Meitu (HKEX: 1357), the company behind selfie app BeautyCam, said on Sunday that it purchased ether and bitcoin worth USD 22.1 million and USD 17.9 million, respectively, in the open market last week, making it the first major Chinese tech company to invest in cryptocurrencies.
In its announcement, Meitu said that “blockchain technology has the potential to disrupt both existing financial and technology industries, similar to the manner in which mobile internet has disrupted the PC, internet, and many other offline industries.” It further sees bitcoin and ether as a smart allocation for its cash holdings.
“The board believes cryptocurrencies have ample room for appreciation in value and by allocating part of its treasury in cryptocurrencies can also serve as a diversification to holding cash in treasury management,” the company said.
Meitu’s founder and CEO Cai Wensheng has invested in a couple of crypto businesses as an angel investor or through the venture capital institute he founded, said local news media Sina.
The group, which also runs a couple of photo and video editing apps, has USD 100.5 million in cash and cash equivalent on hand as of June 30, 2020, according to its latest financial report.
This article is part of KrASIA’s “Key Stat” series, where KrASIA picks and presents the most significant figures of the day’s technology and business world.