TBW - Alexandre Roubaud (Bitstack): "We are valued at around 70 million dollars"
Bitstack's Series A (15 million dollars) was completed last December. Why open the capital to the public so quickly?
From the very beginning, every time we announced a major milestone, the same question came back from our clients: "Can we participate, and how?" This wasn't a hasty decision. The idea had been sitting in the back of our minds, waiting for the right moment and the right way to make it happen. When we saw the enthusiasm generated by the Series A — the media coverage, the client feedback, the profile of the investors we had brought together — we told ourselves that if there was ever a right moment, it was this one. Our community had never been larger: 300,000 clients, more than 300 million euros saved in Bitcoin. Everything came together to make the operation timely.
That said, there was still a three-month gap between the Series A and this raise. Was there significant preparation involved?
Yes, this type of operation requires genuine preparation to be executed properly. We worked with Crowdcube, which is the largest European platform for investment in unlisted companies. They have backed Revolut, Monzo, and Qonto. It's not something you improvise.
What are the final figures for this raise?
More than 25,000 people had pre-registered by the time of the announcement, which represents the largest pre-registration volume ever recorded by Crowdcube. At the opening, on a Tuesday at 10am, we reached one million euros invested in under five minutes. Our initial target of 2 million dollars was hit within 20 minutes. And in less than 24 hours, we had closed a total round of 4.5 million dollars, with more than 8,000 participants. It's the largest operation by number of participants ever carried out by Crowdcube in Europe.
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Was the round capped at 4.5 million?
The stated target was 2 million dollars. But given the demand, we allowed ourselves to oversubscribe in order to give as many people as possible the chance to participate. 4.5 million was the size that seemed most reasonable to us — enough to include the greatest number of people without distorting the operation.
"Participants invested on the same terms as the institutional investors from the Series A"
At what valuation?
Participants invested on the same terms as the institutional investors from the Series A — namely 13Books Capital, Y Combinator, and AG2R La Mondiale. The pre-money valuation is just over 50 million euros. It felt essential to us to open up to our clients without offering them less favorable terms than the institutionals received. At the close of the operation, this values the company at around 70 million dollars.
Are the investors primarily French?
Mostly, yes, because our community base is predominantly French. But we did have participants from several countries across the European Union.
What was the average ticket size?
Around 500 euros. The goal was never to attract a handful of large tickets, but to get as many people involved as possible. We'll have the median ticket in the final figures, but an average of 500 euros across 8,000 people says a lot about the distribution.
How do you engage a community of 300,000 clients on a daily basis?
First, through the app itself: we announce new features there via banners and modals. That was actually one of the main levers that allowed us to mobilize our existing base for the Crowdcube operation. Beyond that, we have a significant email list, a YouTube channel that Alexandre Stachtchenko has taken back in hand with a regular publishing cadence, a Discord, a Telegram, and a presence across all social networks.
On the roadmap: where does the card rollout stand?
We delivered the first 5,000 cards, as announced at the start of the year. But we have more than 200,000 people pre-registered, so that is clearly the number-one priority. Several new features around the card will also be rolling out alongside that. We also announced the launch of a bank account with a French IBAN, which is part of the deployment planned for the coming months.
"There are several ways to generate yield on Bitcoin"
There are increasingly more solutions on the market offering yield on Bitcoin. Is that something you're considering?
We're following the topic very closely. At Bitstack, our positioning is Bitcoin savings with a long-term vision. That implies a different approach to risk than some other players. There are several ways to generate yield on Bitcoin, including WBTC (Bitcoin tokenized on Ethereum) and lending to institutional investors. We're not ruling anything out. But each solution carries its own risk profile, and that's what we're seriously evaluating right now. The trust of our clients is our most valuable asset, and we won't take reckless risks that might erode it.
What about stablecoins?
It's an exploratory topic, and it's a demand that's coming from our clients. Nothing has been officially announced. But there is a logic to it: stablecoins can serve as a bridge for entering or exiting Bitcoin, which fits naturally into our value proposition.
Could Bitstack therefore become a more generalist player, less 100% Bitcoin?
No, Bitcoin remains the core of our DNA. Our mission is the democratization of Bitcoin savings with a long-term vision. But around that core, there can be satellite products: a card, an account, potential yield, stablecoins. These aren't concessions on our philosophy — they are layers that strengthen the value proposition built around Bitcoin.
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