Andrew Webley discusses Smarter Web's Bitcoin treasury growth to 1,275 BTC, market strategies, UK ambitions, and future plans amid Bitcoin's surge to $123,000.
Timestamped Overview
[00:00:00 - 00:05:00] Bitcoin Market Update and Company Progress
- Bitcoin recently reached $123,000 but dropped slightly to around $117,000, showing normal ups and downs in its value.
- Smarter Web now holds 1,275 Bitcoin, worth a lot of money, putting them in the top 25 companies worldwide for Bitcoin ownership.
- The company is only two months old as a public business, meaning anyone can buy shares in it.
- They raise money carefully and turn it into Bitcoin, which has worked well so far.
- Behind the scenes, exciting things are happening that can’t be shared yet, but the CEO feels the company is on the right path.
[00:05:00 - 00:10:00] Strategy on Cash, Acquisitions, and Long-Term Goals
- Some people question keeping cash instead of all in Bitcoin, but the company sees it as a balanced way to run the business smoothly.
- Smarter Web aims to become the UK’s largest company by growing Bitcoin holdings and buying other businesses.
- In the future, they could act like a modern bank with a strong Bitcoin-backed balance sheet, offering more services.
- The CEO compares it to historical big businesses that grew during unique times, like in New York 100 years ago.
- They plan to stay flexible, combining web design work, Bitcoin buying, and smart purchases.
[00:10:00 - 00:15:00] Preferred Shares and UK Regulations
- Inspired by other companies, Smarter Web may offer special investment products like “preferred shares” soon, once they’re bigger.
- These are like loans that can turn into ownership, helping raise money without too much risk.
- No major UK rules block this; it’s similar to US options, just named differently sometimes.
- The company is a leader in the UK for Bitcoin exposure, as it’s hard for locals to invest directly in Bitcoin.
- They use tools like an “ATM facility” to sell shares easily when the market is good, boosting growth.
[00:15:00 - 00:25:00] Community Engagement and Investor Sentiment
- Being active on social media helps build trust and excitement among investors.
- The CEO started the company himself and invests his own money, showing real belief in it.
- Unlike some quiet companies, they embrace fun memes and direct communication to keep people involved.
- Past investing wins and losses taught the CEO to focus on long-term success.
- Community feedback is valued, and the company aims to educate people on Bitcoin’s value simply.
[00:25:00 - 00:36:00] Market Risks, Price Predictions, and Closing Thoughts
- Some other companies might be in it for quick money, which could cause problems, but Smarter Web focuses on its own steady plan.
- Bitcoin hitting $123,000 shows growing interest, and buying it has gotten harder lately due to demand.
- The CEO predicts Bitcoin could exceed $150,000 by year-end, and millions long-term, but avoids exact guesses.
- Thanks to the supportive community, now over 3,500 strong on X (formerly Twitter).
- The company will keep improving and welcomes all input for shared success.
Notable Quotes
Bitcoin Treasury Growth
We've got to 1275 Bitcoin held. So that's quite pleasing... that would probably put us in the top 25 of global companies.
Andrew Webley @asjwebley
Long-Term Vision
If you're an incredibly well capitalized business with an incredibly strong balance sheet, I think you by default you become the equivalent of a bank of the future.
Andrew Webley @asjwebley
UK Ambitions
Everyone laughed at me at the start when I said that I want my business to be in the FTSE 100 and they're not laughing now.
Andrew Webley @asjwebley
Preferred Products
I don't think it'll be long, relatively speaking, until you see smarter preferred products.
Andrew Webley @asjwebley
Community Importance
Bitcoin, the Bitcoin treasury companies, these aren't adversarial plays, these are cooperative plays.
Adrian Morris @Adrian_R_Morris
Personal Investment
I listed my business on the stock market in the UK because I wanted a business that I could invest in myself.
Andrew Webley @asjwebley
Price Outlook
I'll be massively surprised if by the end of the year it's not considerably higher.
Andrew Webley @asjwebley
Transcript
Adrian Morris [00:00:00]: Good morning everyone. This is True North. Now, episode six. We are joined with Andrew Webley, the CEO of the Smarter Web company. Second time he’s been on. Last time we had a fantastic conversation. This time I think we’re going to have an equally great conversation. So, Andrew, bitcoin just hit 123,000.
Adrian Morris [00:00:23]: Things are very, very hot in the markets. We are seeing a bit of a retrace today. No big deal. We’re still sitting around 116, 117. So with that little lead in, tell me, where do you think Sparta Web is right now? How are you feeling about the market? How are you feeling about your strategy, the execution, everything? Just give us a good rundown. You are doing okay, I would agree.
Andrew Webley [00:00:52]: Yeah, yeah, we, we announced last Friday, I think it was, that we’ve got to 1275 Bitcoin held. So that’s, that’s quite pleasing. I think that everyone knows using the publicly available information that we can get significantly above 1,500 with the Bitcoin that we’ve got, you know, when you combine it with the cash, you know, reasonable amount above that. So I’m pleased with that. I was looking earlier today at some of the league tables. Bitcoin treasuries.net is one that I use a lot and I think based on our current Treasury, I think that would probably put us in the top 25 of global companies. So I think that’s a good start. We’ve got to remember that we’re only just over two months into life as a public company.
Andrew Webley [00:01:48]: Yes, I’m pleased with that. I think our strategy is working well with our approach to how we raise capital and how we take the capital as pains and then deploy it into bitcoin. I think that’s working very well at the moment and I think that over time everyone can see that into the future, but also if they look back at the last couple of months. So yes, it’s pretty good so far. There’s lots of things that are going on behind the scenes as well that know, I can’t talk about at the moment, which I’m, I’m pleased about as well. So, you know, my job as the CEO is to focus on, you know, not so much the day to day movement of things, but very much onto if we’re heading in the right direction. And you know, I believe that we are at the moment.
Adrian Morris [00:02:33]: Yeah, I would agree. I’ve been following you fairly closely. I think you do have a good plan. I think you do have a good execution strategy. And along those lines, something recently has come up, you know, in conversations on X about your cash position, your execution timing, things of that nature. Some feel that having cash on a balance sheet is a wrong view or a wrong execution strategy of the sailor strategy altogether. Others believe that having a balanced approach where you do maintain somewhat of a cash position makes sense as well. So give some insight.
Adrian Morris [00:03:08]: What are some of your thoughts on that? I know that X can be a very, very loud place when it comes to commentary, but I did see that you did interact with some of those comments. So would you share some of your thoughts on that topic?
Andrew Webley [00:03:19]: Yeah, sure. So when we first IPO’d some great people, they critiqued the strategy ever so slightly and then as time went on, everyone saw that the strategy worked. As we’ve done it, I think it’s important to say that where we’ve been for the first two months is different to where we’ll be in the second two months. So the strategy changes over time. As with any good business, you evolve, you adapt. But our strategy, if you look back at my early interviews, you’ll see that there’s still a delay, small delay in deploying cash into Bitcoin. We are an operating business, so we’re not so reliant on capital raising to generate the capital to survive, which is really important in the. Just the regulatory position in the uk, but also in terms of having a long term successful business that has adopted a Bitcoin treasury strategy.
Andrew Webley [00:04:22]: So, yeah, I think, obviously I know exactly where we are at the moment and there’s certain information that’s been updated and we update the market as quickly as we can on things, but I think we’re in an excellent position and I’m very much looking forward to the coming weeks and months.
Adrian Morris [00:04:43]: Good. I think that it’s very easy for people in the community to get caught up in narratives and I just like to remind everyone that Bitcoin, the Bitcoin treasury companies, these aren’t adversarial plays, these are cooperative plays. So I think that execution, there’s a lot of things that go into it as operating company. So I want to urge people to not get too bogged down in narratives, perhaps. And along those lines, one of the things you have said consistently is you want to be the largest company in the uk, right, Just on a factor of Bitcoin’s potential price trajectory and a continuous acquisition strategy. I think that is something that you can actually achieve, especially in the uk. Not to put you on the spot, but if you do see a Future where you are the largest company in the UK and since that is the goal, how long do you think it’s going to take to get there? And is that a position that you think that you can hold? I want to be very, very specific here. By holding, right, when you get to that point, I know you have three levers to your business.
Adrian Morris [00:05:47]: You have the operating business, you have the bitcoin acquisition strategy, and you have potential acquisition strategy. So where do you see those three rungs going if you do become the largest company in the uk?
Andrew Webley [00:05:56]: Yeah, so I think about a company like ours in terms of what we’ve got to do today and in the coming months. But then I also think about much longer term and I think it’s quite simple. If you’re an incredibly well capitalized business with an incredibly strong balance sheet, I think you by default you become the equivalent of a bank of the future. So with that you’ve got tremendous options that you can do. It’s probably, if you look at something like maybe career, I think probably the 80s, maybe that was the pivotal moment there when you have these massive trading companies that did everything under the sun. So maybe it evolves to something like that. You know, banking’s not a very profitable thing in itself. So, you know, when I say a bank of the future, I just mean more like a capital, you know, a company with a very, very strong capital position.
Andrew Webley [00:06:56]: I was in New York recently when we, just before we did the IPO and I was walking around, I went up the Rockefeller center looking at the model at the bottom of the Rockefeller center. And you know, it struck out to me that, you know, maybe this is the best moment for 100 years. You know, approximately 100 years when that was built. You know, if you look at some of those big buildings in New York, you know, they, they grew up from people and families and businesses that were incredibly well capitalized because they were in a unique point in time. And so that’s kind of how I see this. So obviously the web design side of things is very, very important. The acquisition strategy is important. And building a business that’s got a balance sheet that’s built on the best asset in the world is incredibly important too.
Andrew Webley [00:07:49]: So I think we just retain our nimbleness. I’ve obviously done the maths in my head of what it means based on where we are today and the multiple of where we’d need to be. It’s approximately 150, by the way, to be the biggest company in the UK. We’ve all got our own opinions in say, a year, two years, five years, 10 years, what Bitcoin will do, that’s an element to it. Also the capital raising strategies, that’s an element to it. Everyone laughed at me at the start when I said that I want my business to be in the FTSE 100 and they’re not laughing now. And you know, yeah, I believe that you should try and be the best. And you know, our business is a UK business, you know, listed in the uk and you know, why not try and be the biggest and the best company in the uk?
Adrian Morris [00:08:45]: Yeah, exactly. Why not? So piggybacking off of that, you are a UK company, you do have the regional exposure to the uk. You are serving as a bitcoin exposure vehicle for a lot of the, a lot of the investors in the UK right now, and we talked about this in the previous live stream, that there’s not easy ways to get bitcoin exposure in the uk. So with that said, I know that, for instance, with strategy and the preferred offerings, those are things that have gotten a lot of interest in the market, right, in terms of both investor sentiment and market perception with regards to what they can be used for, how they can be scaled, the different levers that allow strategy to have. So in that future, where Smarter Web is one of, or if not the largest company in the uk, do you see other offerings along those lines existing in Smarter Web? As part of the Smarter Web, I guess you can say Smarter Web economy. I like to talk about strategies and economy. So in a way, you would be acting as an economy, a bitcoin economy in the uk if you do scale to that size and if you do have potential preferred offerings or other offerings along those lines, I know you can’t give specifics, but are those things that you are looking at that you are interested in, that you think that could be interesting?
Andrew Webley [00:09:59]: Yeah, for sure. You know, obviously time flies at the moment. I met Michael Saylor in London maybe two weeks ago and we were talking about that. We’re talking about what he would do, what he wouldn’t do if he was doing things again. And I think the holy grail in the bitcoin treasury company is to have those additional lines of equity bonds that are wrapped as equity because effectively they’re a convertible debt product which you’re in control of. And I think that is very much the way that we’ll go. I can’t say too much about it, but we’ve had initial discussions around how they get structured, the process where they get listed, all these Sorts of things. And I think it’s just a case of we need to get to a certain size, not that much bigger than we are at the moment, but bigger than we are at the moment, until you can do those things.
Andrew Webley [00:10:57]: So, yeah, I don’t think it’ll be long, relatively speaking, until you see, you know, smarter, preferred products. I think the great thing about when you do those is that you’re in control of it. So if you look at what Saylor’s done with strategy, you know, it’s great because those products can complement each other, so you can give different pools of capital access to products that are beneficial to them, but then you can use those products, you know, alongside each other, to manage your. Well, effectively, to manage your MVav, to build the business over the longer term. Now, I think as you get bigger, it’s good because it allows you to smooth out a bit of the volatility as well. Because, you know, take a business, our size, volatility is incredibly important. You know, it’s better, obviously, on a good day. You know, no one really likes it on a bad day.
Andrew Webley [00:11:59]: But, you know, if you take this week, for example, you know, Monday a down day, Tuesday so far a down day. If Wednesday is an update, if, then, you know, our, you know, our ATM staff facility will kick in. So as you’re a bit smaller and you’re getting bigger, you have different tools that are available to you. But when you get to a certain size, yeah, you can use some of those other tools and they’re really exciting. I think you probably need to get to a Treasury of, say, 400, 500 million before it’s worth doing that, because there is a cost to doing that as well. The great thing that we’ve got, thanks to Michael Saylor, is that there’s someone out there educating the world, the people that buy these products, you know, but, you know, these things do exist. And so, you know, just like he’s done for lots of the other things that businesses like us are, are doing, you know, that walk is that little bit easier. You know, I’m truly grateful for all of that as well.
Adrian Morris [00:13:07]: That’s great context. Thank you. And, you know, those are some of the similar thoughts I had. I didn’t want to press you too much on anything you can potentially talk about, but I’m glad that you gave that insight and just keeping on this topic really quickly here, and if you can’t say too much on this, that’s totally fine. I was just curious, would there be any sort of regulatory issues or Roadblocks to having your own version of the preferreds in the UK market? Because I’m not very familiar if there would be, but I know that there’s a question that will likely come up, so I’m just curious.
Andrew Webley [00:13:35]: No. So when we were talking, I said to him, would you not be a bit annoyed? Because he said to me, just call it, you know, like Smarter Stride, Smarter Strife and, you know, so on and so forth.
Adrian Morris [00:13:48]: I saw that post, I saw a post that said that. Yep, yep.
Andrew Webley [00:13:50]: And I said, would you not be a bit annoyed if. If I just, you know, ripped off, you know, your names and put Smarter in front of it? And he said, no, that’s absolutely fine. And from a regulatory point of view, you know, we can do that. You know, of course we can do that. It’s. It’s just another. Another product that you can. If you, you know, what I’ve said since the start is that in most of the countries, you know, the ones that I’m most familiar with are the UK and the us.
Andrew Webley [00:14:18]: Of course you’ve got the same toolbox, it’s just how you use that toolbox. So if you look at us, you know, we’re one of the only, maybe even at the moment, the only company in the UK that’s got an ATM style facility. So just because you don’t, just because something isn’t done normally in a market or something hasn’t worked in the past, you know, it doesn’t mean to say that if it’s not done right and if it’s implemented it well, that you can do that. So, you know, generally speaking, you can do the same stuff in the UK that you can do in the us, including the prefshares. So sometimes you have to call them different things, but no, there’s no sort of regulatory challenge. The only challenge is, like I say, you do the right things at the right time when you’re the right size. But that’s the same as the other bits in the journey as well, in my opinion.
Adrian Morris [00:15:16]: And along those lines of being able to do the same things just in different ways, or having to call them different things, the ATM facility that you’ve created makes you a bit of a trendsetter in the uk, does it not? And I think that the other UK companies that would like to impart on the bitcoin journey, including the ones that already exist, I would imagine that they would probably follow a similar model. And the reason why I bring that up is do you see yourself as a deliberate trendsetter or perhaps Someone that’s setting a trend just by virtue of being on the bitcoin treasury journey? Or do you see this as just a natural progression of trying to, you know, do what’s being done in the us, following the strategy model in the UK and you’re just trying to find ways in which to do that?
Andrew Webley [00:16:04]: A bit of both, really. So what I’m hopeful of is that, you know, you’ve got lots of other good players in our space that, you know, all doing good things, you know, and then, you know, maybe even someone can do something that we can, you know, sort of, you know, take inspiration from. So far, all of that inspiration has come from people in other countries. But, you know, I’m hoping that when we get more companies that are doing this, well, then there’ll be some of that. I think the problem that the UK market’s got with people trying to do a facility, an ATM style facility like us, is it won’t work unless you’ve got liquidity. So I was looking at a report last night and we do 10 times the volume of the next best, which is this is on a sample of yesterday, by the way, and that’s considerably better than the majority of the others. So if you haven’t got liquidity, those sorts of tools aren’t really suitable for you. You’re better off to put the work in, to build a business in the right way, with the right capital structure and do those things at the right time.
Andrew Webley [00:17:26]: So for me, it’s quite simple to do things as we’ve done them, which is what I believe are the right things in the right way at the right times. But I don’t think you can just have one. It has to work to the benefit of it because otherwise you’ll have an ATM and it will produce nothing, you know, so, so yeah, but you know, like, you know, anyone is welcome to, to do that and you know, they’re also welcome to say thank you if they want.
Adrian Morris [00:18:01]: Yeah, they probably should. They probably should, quite frankly. But keeping along that, that point, you mentioned something that’s very, very important with regards to the atm. You said that you need the volume to be able to support it, which is perfectly true. But you also need sentiment. Right. And one of the things I’ve said that some people strongly disagree with is that MNAV is a function of sentiment. And the reason why I bring that up is you are very, very engaged with the smarter web investor community on X.
Adrian Morris [00:18:28]: You know, you have the meme running of, you know, we think we’re doing okay and everyone has picked up on it and. Or that you’re doing somewhat good and has picked up on it as well. So you clearly, I think, understand the value of community engagement, investor sentiment, and how that can affect the broader perception of the equity. Is that something that comes to you naturally? Because I’m inclined to say yes, just based on your history. For instance, in your previous role, you had the top of the stocks charts and I thought that was a very, very clever pun on Top of the Pops. And people in the US probably have no idea what I’m referring to right now, but it seems that you naturally lean into the meme, as I call it. You embrace the meme ability of the Bitcoin space and that seems to be something that comes naturally to you. So do you think that as the front person of this journey, that investor engagement is something that you must do and you must actively participate in, or do you think that it’s something that you can eventually pull back from and allow the opportunity to take its own life and see where it goes? And I ask that specifically because if you take a look at gme, for instance, they’re taking an entirely different approach of they’re being very, very hands off.
Adrian Morris [00:19:46]: They’re not engaging with the community, they’re not, you know, leaning into the memeability and leaning into the importance of sentiment in the community, and they have an entirely different model to follow. And I think it’s a very, very interesting juxtaposition. So what are your thoughts on that?
Andrew Webley [00:19:59]: Yeah, so the most important thing here to say is that, you know, I set up the Smarter Web company before it became a public company. It was 100% my business and my wife’s, obviously because we were 50, 50 shareholders. And I really care about it. The other reason, which is quite important, is I listed my business on the stock market in the UK because I wanted a business that I could invest in myself. And that’s, that’s really important. So I’m not an opportunistic person that thinks that this is a way of making a couple of million quid or something. You know, this, this is something that I care about. You know, I care about more this, more about the success of the business than I do about my own personal financial position.
Andrew Webley [00:20:55]: And I think because the UK’s had such a torrid time for 10 or 15 years or however long it’s been with the equity markets on the whole, there’s been the odd blip, positive. Look, I think that’s why investors probably like it. So this isn’t you know, this isn’t a promote. This isn’t an opportunistic thing. This is something that I believe in, that I wanted for myself. And, you know, that’s, that’s how we’re doing it. And then, you know, if I look at my past, you know, I’ve had some. I’ve had some great times in investing, you know, some really successful ones.
Andrew Webley [00:21:32]: And I’ve also had some, particularly one terrible, terrible investment. So I know what it’s like to lose as well as to win through investing. And that’s why for the last few years, when I’ve been planning exactly how I could do this and how I believe I can do it successfully, I’ve learned from all of the bad stuff as well as the good stuff. And I think people probably like that. You know, if I was looking to invest in, in a bitcoin treasury company in the UK because I only hold one, which is our company, of course I hold others globally, then that’s what I would look for. You know, I suppose if, if we were chefs, it would be, you know, if you can’t eat your own cooking, you know, you know, that sort of a thing. But no, that’s what I believe in. You know, I’ve, you know, I’ve done everything in my career on that basis, you know, and, and I, you know, I think it’s the right way of doing things.
Andrew Webley [00:22:32]: And, you know, that’s, that’s how I’ve done it. And, you know, it seems to have worked okay so far. You know. You know, I’ve even bought shares on the market recently. You know, I didn’t have to do that. I could have bought them, you know, before not bought more. You know, it doesn’t make any difference to my holding. And it was a significant amount of money to me.
Andrew Webley [00:22:52]: You know, I believe in this. I believe in it more than I believe in anything else. You know, I’ve obviously got the luxury of, you know, obviously knowing, you know, exactly what we’re doing, which means that also I can’t buy shares at certain times. But, yeah, it’s just how I think it should be done at the end of the day. And whilst we’re taking inspiration from some of the things that people have done elsewhere, I’ve tried to do it all as I think it should be done. And with that, I’m sure there’ll be the odd mistake further down the line, you know. You know, hopefully not too many mistakes. And, and if there are mistakes, we’ll be honest with people and we’ll we’ll do our best to sort of, you know, address them, you know, because we’re not perfect, you know, so.
Andrew Webley [00:23:38]: So, yeah, that’s where it comes from. It’s no more than that. It’s, you know, at the end of the day, when people buy shares, your company, they want you to do the best job that you can. And if you can’t do that for them and to put in the time every single day and to communicate with them and things, perhaps, you know, you shouldn’t be doing it. That’s what I think, anyway.
Adrian Morris [00:23:59]: I would agree. And along those lines, you know, there, there’s some, and I want to be very specific with what I’m saying here, that I’m not comparing you to strategy. I’m just drawing a parallel. There is a common parallel with the fact that Saylor is so invested in this plan because strategy is a company he started. He is very, very invested in it, both personally and professionally. He has seen, as you mentioned, a nasty drop. We all know what people criticize him for with the dot com bubble and so on and so forth. And you started Smarter Web, and you are very, very invested in the current plan, both personally and professionally.
Adrian Morris [00:24:39]: And it does give you a level of authenticity. Based on the feedback I’ve gotten from the broader community, that you are personally invested in this. And I bring that up to say this. You have mentioned in other interviews and recently here that there are some players in the market that may be not invested, not believers, but opportunistic, that they see an opportunity here to make some money, to raise their stock price, kind of riding the wave of Bitcoin and being opportunistic in that sense? And so that leads me to a question here. Do you think that because of that potential opportunistic nature of some of the other players in the market and the inevitable negative sentiment that will come because of that, Because I think that opportunistic players are more likely to be shaken out. Do you think that it is something that can negatively impact Smarter Web? How do you see yourself navigating that? Do you see yourself staying the course and just being a player that’s keeping the path and staying forthright and staying forward? Or do you see yourself as having to perhaps counterbalance that in terms of how you communicate with the market and how you address the market just because the market may get, for lack of a better term, spooked if players start dropping odds and if opportunistic players start being exposed?
Andrew Webley [00:25:54]: I think the only thing that we can do is we can control what we do. So, you know, we’ve got something that will publish in the near future, which is, you know, a really good way that we can try and show the wider community and also the people that aren’t so experienced in the bitcoin community how they can understand the value of a company that holds Bitcoin on its balance sheet. So we’re trying to do things like that. We’ve done a lot of work on the regulation side of things to try and make that better. But at the end of the day, we can’t control, you know, things that other companies may, may do. You know, I can emphasize, you know, if people lose money through these things, but I can’t control that. All I can do is try and do my job to the best possible way. And this is very much a long term mission.
Andrew Webley [00:26:49]: So, you know, if there’s a few bumps in the road that aren’t caused by us, then I think we just have to carry on. You know, I love it when the share price goes up. I don’t like it so much when it goes down, but it’s part and parcel of it, you know, it’s not, you know, it’s a bit, it’s a bit bumpy, you know, but you know, personally, like when I’m investing in things, I like volatile things. You know, it’s how you get performance. So, you know, I think we just have to hope that no one does anything too bad, you know, and that’s not so much because of how it would hurt us, but it’s because of how it would hurt people that get caught up investing in it. But hopefully that won’t happen, you know, or certainly not on any particular size. And I think that’s all we can do. You know, I got some advice from somebody who’s been very successful in this space when I was in Vegas recently, and he said, you can’t worry about what other people do, you know, just focus on what you’re doing, stick to your plan.
Andrew Webley [00:27:55]: And that’s what we try and do. But, you know, obviously we’re only human beings. So you do look at what other people are doing and you think, why are you doing that? You don’t have to do it like that, you know, like you could do it better, you know, but, you know, that’s just the nature of the beast at the end of the day and, you know, you just, just, you know, stick, stick to the plan.
Adrian Morris [00:28:17]: I would agree. So, last question I have for you more of a fun question that you may or May not be able to answer. Bitcoin just hit 123,000 the other day. You know, the sentiment was very high. The everyone was talking, I was talking about was, it was a great moment and I think it caught a lot of people in the market off guard because there were so many different news posts about bitcoin is going to 123,000. What does this mean? What does this say about bitcoin? What does this say about the market? So, two part question, what do you think it means, if anything, that Bitcoin hit 123,000 recently? Is it just the natural progression of number go up or do you think that it’s a representative of a broader shift in sentiment and perception about bitcoin as an asset? And 2 price prediction, where do you think that we’re going to be at the end of the year?
Andrew Webley [00:29:02]: Yeah, so I hate that second question, but I will try and answer.
Adrian Morris [00:29:07]: Fair enough.
Andrew Webley [00:29:08]: I was traveling when, when bitcoin got to that, that level and I was chuckling to myself when I was looking at it on my phone when it got to 121 because, you know, obviously everyone likes the 21 number for lots of reasons and I thought how funny would that be if it stayed there? But it smashed through it. Obviously it’s come off a little bit since, but. And then I’ve been saying to know some of our advisors for a couple of weeks now have been saying, you know, obviously it’s not impossible to buy bitcoin because it’s incredibly liquid and you can almost always buy it. But from some of the exchanges that we buy it from, because we buy it in a variety of different ways, I have noticed that it’s, it’s been, you know, relatively speaking, quite hard work to get bitcoin at a good price, you know, at some of those moments, which is quite unusual actually, certainly in my experience anyway. But, but my experience is different because we’ve been buying bigger and bigger amounts and. But I’m fairly confident that what I’ve seen from the market over the last couple of weeks is, you know, sort of suggesting of what would happen now. So, you know, yeah, that’s, that’s my take on that. And then in the second part of the question, the price, the price level.
Andrew Webley [00:30:23]: Well, I think being selfish about it, talking about it purely from our company’s point of view, I’m very glad that we’ve got the treasury that we’ve got at this point. I think we’ve managed to acquire a reasonable amount of bitcoin. In a fairly short time period, which gives us a really good base to build on for the future. The key with a bitcoin treasury company, in my opinion, is that the stronger bitcoin is, the easier it is to raise capital and then, you know, to keep that flywheel going. So of course the flip side of that is that the stronger bitcoin is, the more expensive it is to buy. So going back to our long term approach and the fact that the longer term investors should in theory do the best, you know, that hold it for the longest amount of time, you know, you know, because that’s the very nature of the compound model here, you know, I think we’re in a really good position. You know, if bitcoin rips, great. If it hovers here, fine, and we’ll just see, just see how it goes, really.
Andrew Webley [00:31:35]: I don’t like talking about a price level.
Adrian Morris [00:31:39]: I think, come on, just throw a number out there.
Andrew Webley [00:31:43]: I, I think your safest bet, if you want to sit on the fence, is just to go to 30 above where it was at the start of every single year. You know, that’s, that’s, that’s a pretty likely bet.
Adrian Morris [00:31:55]: It makes sense.
Andrew Webley [00:31:56]: Yeah, yeah, we’re not there yet. I put it this way, I wouldn’t be surprised to see it the other side of 150. I’ve heard some significantly higher levels talked about, you know, and then again, you know, we’ve been hearing that for years as well. I’m, I genuinely believe we’re going into the millions, know, probably multi millions in the not too distant future. You know, I’m 47, so let’s say that’s before I’m 55, 60, something like that, which is, you know, that’s considerable. So, yeah, I’m. As long as, as long as things keep getting better all the time, for everything as a whole, then, you know, I, you know, I can live without it ripping massively. But I do like watching it.
Andrew Webley [00:32:43]: You know, it’s great this weekend when, when, when it, when it started to go, it was, it was pretty cool, pretty cool to see that because the one criticism that some people have had is, you know, why is it not doing a great deal? Me and my friends, we joke that, you know, we used to think bitcoin was, you know, really the most exciting asset in terms of watching the price. Whereas now obviously it’s all about bitcoin treasury companies. And, you know, I joked to someone earlier today that, you know, sort of when in the UK, when we get the ETNs, which will hopefully be later this year then, you know, I’ll probably get an allocation to that myself for the cautious part of my portfolio. So, you know, we’ll see. But I’ll be massively surprised if Bitcoin isn’t higher than where it is today. And it’s as we’re talking now, it’s probably like, what is it, 1117-118-something like.
Adrian Morris [00:33:39]: That, or something like that.
Andrew Webley [00:33:41]: So I’ll be massively surprised if by the end of the year it’s not considerably higher.
Adrian Morris [00:33:47]: Yeah, I’m actually aligned with you. I think that we’re likely to see the other side of 150. The predictions of 3 to 4 to 500,000 I think would be a little bit outlandish unless we have a change in liquidity and we have broader market stimulus in the form of money printing. But I’m aligned with you. I think that that’s a fairly reasonable bet to make. And I was having fun with it this weekend as well. I was retweeting every time it went through 119, then 120, 121, 122 to 123. I was retweeting the whole time, so I was, I was enjoying it myself.
Adrian Morris [00:34:20]: But, Andrew, any closing thoughts for the community? We had another great conversation. I know that they love hearing from you, so feel free to share any closing thoughts you have.
Andrew Webley [00:34:29]: Yeah, I just want to say thanks to everyone for all the support, you know, like, you know, we couldn’t do this without the community. You know, our community on X has got, I think it’s got three and a half thousand people in it now.
Adrian Morris [00:34:42]: Yeah, they started at 100, so. That’s incredible.
Andrew Webley [00:34:46]: Yes, it’s incredible. You know, it’s amazing to see. You know, I’ve been really busy this week so far, so I’ve not kept an eye on it quite as closely as I do. I try and check it, you know, once, twice, three times a day, just see what everyone’s saying. You know, I’m learning from what people say as well. So, you know, if people are posting things, you know, like, the chances are I will see it at some point. I won’t always agree with everything, but, you know, I welcome all input from everyone. So, yeah, I just, just want to say thank you to everyone and, you know, we’ll, we’ll keep doing our best and you know, we believe that we’ve got the right strategy for the moment and, you know, we’ll just keep, keep, keep doing our best all right.
Adrian Morris [00:35:30]: Well, thank you very much. I greatly appreciate you and I’m looking forward to having you again. Thank you, everyone that watched us live. We are done with this episode for today. There’ll be more episodes in the future with Andrew and with others in the space. And I look forward to and appreciate your viewership. So thank you for joining us both and everyone in the space on this journey. But I’m going to close today, say thank you yet again and hope to see you again soon.
Adrian Morris [00:35:56]: Bye, everyone.
Andrew Webley [00:35:57]: See you soon.