Tech Firm Expands Investment Portfolio Beyond Digital Assets

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2. As of the date of this article, officers and/or employees of Streetwise Reports LLC (including members of their household) own securities of Matador Technologies Inc.
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Bitcoin ecosystem company Matador Technologies Inc. (MATA:TSX.V; MATAF:OTCQB) announced it is proposing a change of business from a Tier 2 Technology Issuer to a Tier 2 Technology/Investment Issuer.

The move, which needs to be approved by the TSX Venture Exchange and a majority of shareholders, reflects Matador's "natural evolution … over the past six months, expanding from a pure technology focus to a broader investment strategy centered on Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, precious metals, and blockchain-based assets, which complements and enhances its technology operations."

"It will provide greater flexibility for the Company to not only enhance its core products — such as combining precious metals with Bitcoin Ordinals and NFTs — but also to pursue a wide range of potential investments, including cryptocurrencies, staking activities, DeFi protocols, tokenized real-world assets, and digital asset lending and borrowing, to generate income and strategic growth," Matador said in a release.

The policy change would allow for broad flexibility to incorporate a wide range of future investments, including acquiring more Bitcoin, acquiring other digital assets or cryptocurrencies, buying tokenized real-world assets and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), Bitcoin-based assets such as Ordinals, and purchasing precious metals such as gold and silver and assets backed by them.

Matador said some of the other future investments could possibly include:

• Participation in decentralized finance protocols, staking programs, liquidity pools, or governance systems as they evolve.
• Ownership and development of blockchain infrastructure, including operating nodes, validating networks, or providing network liquidity.
• Engagement in digital asset-based credit and derivative markets through lending, borrowing, margin trading, structured yield products, and other derivative products.
• Development, incubation, or investment in decentralized applications, blockchain protocols, or tokenized platforms.
• Investments in public and private companies, including those that build technology related to Bitcoin, other cryptocurrencies, and precious metals.
• Investments in private funds as well as exchange traded funds and products related to the digital asset sector.
• Engagement in financial or synthetic mining strategies, including the use of derivatives and structured products to capture volatility-driven returns on cryptocurrency holdings, with the objective of recycling proceeds into additional digital asset acquisitions.
• Strategic acquisitions, partnerships, or ecosystem investments that leverage Bitcoin, blockchain technology, or digital asset innovation.

"Matador’s policy also reserves the right to invest in or develop any blockchain-related or digital asset-related initiative, ensuring the company can adapt to emerging opportunities within the rapidly evolving digital economy," the company said. "In furtherance of its investment objectives, the company may also dispose of certain of its assets and/or divest certain of its divisions from time to time.

Matador is required to obtain the approval of a majority of its shareholders for the proposed COB, the company said.

Company Launching Digital Gold Product Soon

The company is preparing to launch its digital gold product soon as gold continues in a bull market. Earlier this this month, it announced its stock ticker symbol on the OTCBQ Venture Market changed from "MTDTF" to "MATAF."

Matador's digital asset platform will begin with a gold-based product on the bitcoin network in the next couple of months and will feature "Grammies," 1-gram units of physical gold linked to digital inscriptions using bitcoin ordinals.

Matador said it expects the Grammies product to be the first of multiple offerings centered on precious metals and digital inscription, with silver and other metals under consideration for future phases.

The company also noted that as a part of asset diversification approach, it continues to accumulate both bitcoin and physical gold.

Matador's technology pairs its digital gold product with digital art on the Bitcoin blockchain. The gold is sourced through the Royal Canadian Mint through a partnership with Kitco and physical gold holdings are stored at the Mint.

The product plays to investors who buy physical gold and store it in vaults or under mattresses, wrote Don Tapscott, executive chairman of the Blockchain Research Institute and one of the world's leading authorities on technology's impact on business and society.

"The gold industry has missed out on the digitally native and newly affluent class of investors who love Bitcoin (and would perhaps love gold if given the chance)," wrote the author, who has penned 16 books, including Blockchain Revolution: How the Technology Behind Bitcoin and Other Cryptocurrencies is Changing the World, with his son, Alex Tapscott. "So, gold needs to play a little catch-up."

He said Matador "wants to be one of the first public companies focused on tokenizing real-world assets by leveraging the Bitcoin blockchain, starting with gold."

The Catalyst: Gold Slips, But Bulls Still Running

According to a report by Finimize on May 7, gold prices slipped by 1% as a stronger U.S. dollar and renewed U.S.-China trade talks buoyed market sentiment.

Gold spot prices fell to US$3,395.29 an ounce while U.S. futures dropped 0.6% to US$3,403.50, highlighting the impact of a firmer U.S. dollar, which rose 0.2%, the site noted.

"Despite short-term pressure on gold, Bank of America predicts the metal could rise to US$4,000 per ounce by late 2025," Finimize noted. "Meanwhile, China's steady accumulation of gold reserves underscores robust demand that may support prices even as the Federal Reserve issues expected guidance today (Wednesday)."

Trade talks with China and any Fed decisions could "influence global economies, reinforcing gold's status as a gauge of economic confidence," the site said. "Whether through boosting reserves or aligning with market shifts, global participants closely monitor these interconnected developments."

Others are also predicting gold could go higher. Garth Friesen wrote for Forbes on March 15 that DoubleLine Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Gundlach said, "I think gold will make it to US$4,000. I'm not sure that'll happen this year, but I feel like that's the measured move anticipated by the long consolidation at around US$1,800 on gold."

And according to an April 10 post on Goldfix, Goldman Sachs has revised raised the upper boundary of its forecast range for the end of the year to US$3,520 an ounce and even introduced a "tall-risk scenario" as high as US$4,500 an ounce.

Ownership and Share Structure

According to the company, 65% is owned by management and insiders, including Founder and Director Donato Sferra, Vice President of Finance Geoff St. Clair, Director Richard Murphy, Soni, a strategic investor (through UTXO Management, LLC and 210K Capital, LP), Director Tyler Evans (through UTXO Management, LLC and 210K Capital, LP), and Founder Trevor Koverko, among others. 

The rest, about 35%, is retail, and includes Hive Digital with 3%, Kitco Metals with 1%, and Gold Fields Ltd. with 4%, the company said.

It has about 92.22 million shares outstanding and has a market cap of CA$41.81 million at the time of writing. It trades in a 52-week range of CA$0.11 and CA$0.90.