Atai Life Sciences, a biopharmaceutical company that trades on the Nasdaq as ATAI, is the latest publicly traded company to announce plans to launch a Bitcoin treasury strategy.

The firm, which focuses on the treatment of mental health disorders, announced plans Thursday to acquire $5 million worth of Bitcoin as a starting point. 

“All of Bitcoin’s properties and its potential… make it a necessary part of any treasury strategy, especially for biotech companies who are disproportionately at risk of inflation-impacting cash reserves,” wrote the firm’s founder, Christian Angermayer.

Angermayer outlined valuation pressure and cash reserve erosion as two specific reasons that a Bitcoin treasury may be especially beneficial to biotech companies like his, suggesting that the nature of financing in the industry “exposes biotech firms to heightened financial risks in certain macroeconomic environments.”

The company filed an 8-K with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission earlier Thursday, and indicated that it plans to deploy $5 million into Bitcoin over the next few weeks to seed its treasury. At today’s prices, $5 million would net the company around 59.23 BTC.

“While Bitcoin as a long-term store of value is not in doubt for me, we must also acknowledge that Bitcoin can, and likely will, have short-term price fluctuations,” wrote the firm’s founder.

“Therefore, Atai has taken the prudent decision to hold sufficient cash (mostly USD), short-term securities, and public equity holdings,” he continued. “Atai will invest an initial position of $5 million in Bitcoin, which is not anticipated to impact drug development timelines or current operational runway.”

Shares of ATAI are down more than 1% today and now trade at $1.37, about 93% below their all-time high price of $19.45 from 5 years ago. 

Angermayer further noted that he plans to write a post in the coming days outlining the philosophical alignment between psychedelics and Bitcoin.

Edited by Andrew Hayward

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