Blockchain firm BTCS surges as retail investors snap up bitcoin dividends

Shares of blockchain technology-focused firm BTCS Inc surged on Thursday and are set to extend a four-day rally as more retail investors bought into the company's shares after the company offered to pay its dividend in bitcoin last week. stock.

The Silver Spring, Maryland-based company offered to pay those who choose it in bitcoin at $0.05 per share on Jan. 5, and its stock price has more than doubled since then. Its first bitcoin dividend (which BTCS calls a “bidividend”) will expire on March 16.

BTCS shares jumped 20% in early trading Thursday to a six-week high of $7.80 on forums like Reddit and stocktwits.com that fueled last year's "meme stock" frenzy.

In the first few minutes of trading, nearly 9 million BTCS shares changed hands, more than double the 4.2 million shares of the company’s publicly traded shares. Fewer unrestricted shares make the stock vulnerable to wild swings.

"This is a moment we've been waiting for since the company purchased the bividend.com domain name in February 2015," CEO Charles Allen said in a statement last Wednesday.

BTCS, with its latest market cap of $69 million, is said to be the first company to list on Nasdaq to pay dividends in bitcoin. Shares of video game retailer GameStop rose 22% on Friday on plans to create a unit to develop a marketplace for non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Meanwhile, the price of the highly volatile cryptocurrency has plummeted since hitting an all-time high late last year. Bitcoin last traded at $42,579.80 on Thursday, about 36 percent below its all-time peak.