Rumble, a YouTube alternative favored by the political far-right, is the latest company to explore the possibility of adding Bitcoin to its balance sheet.
Rumble (RUM) shares gained as much as 9%, hitting a high of $6.20 in after-hours trading on Nov. 19 after its founder and CEO Chris Pavlovski had posed the question on X, which saw strong support from the crypto community:
“Should Rumble add Bitcoin to its balance sheet?” Pavlovski asked in an X poll, to which about 29,000 people answered “Yes.”
Source: Chris Pavlovski
“Yes. Happy to help if needed,” said Jack Mallers, CEO and founder of Bitcoin (BTC) payment provider Strike.
Michael Saylor, chairman of the Bitcoin-buying MicroStrategy, offered to discuss how it could be done, and Pavlovski appears to have accepted.
Source: Chris Pavlovski
Rumble shares closed up 2.5% on the day at $5.68 before reaching a peak after-hours at $6.20, which had cooled to $5.78, a 1.76% gain since market close, per Google Finance.
Rumble, based in Florida and Ontario, runs a video-sharing platform of the same name known for its lenient content moderation policies. Its cloud services arm also hosts the Donald Trump-owned social media platform Truth Social.
Rumble has about 67 million monthly active users and began trading publicly on the Nasdaq in September 2022.
As of Sept. 30, Rumble’s balance sheet of cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities was about $132 million.
The platform brought in $25 million in revenue in the third quarter, up 39% year-on-year.
Its shares have been down since its Q3 results were reported last week, as the company’s revenue missed analyst estimates by 14% and its earnings per share (EPS) fell short of expectations by 20%.
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If Rumble adds Bitcoin to its balance sheet, it would join a growing list of companies that have taken the plunge this year.
Artificial intelligence firm Genius Group took the first steps in its “Bitcoin first” strategy on Nov. 18, purchasing 110 Bitcoin for $10 million. It plans to eventually hold 90% of its reserves in Bitcoin.
Meanwhile, the Japan-based Metaplanet bought another $11.3 million worth of Bitcoin, with BitcoinTreasuries data showing the firm now holds 1,142.2 Bitcoin as of Nov. 19.
Medical device maker Semler Scientific also recently added $17.7 million of Bitcoin, increasing its holdings to 1,273.
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