UK’s top listed Bitcoin treasury firm buys more BTC despite sitting on paper loss
Smarter Web Company lifts holdings to 2,712 BTC, but its average cost of $111,548 per coin dwarfs Bitcoin's current price near $63,000.
The Smarter Web Company, the London-listed firm that describes itself as the UK’s largest publicly traded Bitcoin treasury holder, has added a further 11.89 BTC to its reserves, taking total holdings to 2,712 BTC. The purchase, disclosed on 3 August 2026, was made at roughly £47,052, or about $63,328, per coin, according to BitcoinTreasuries.NET and reporting from crypto.news and Crypto Briefing.
The fresh acquisition moves the company to 28th place in BitcoinTreasuries.NET’s global Bitcoin 100 ranking of corporate holders, and comes only weeks after it sold part of its stash to retire a convertible financing instrument ahead of schedule.
Cost basis running well above spot price
What distinguishes this latest purchase from a routine treasury update is the widening gap between the company’s accumulated cost and Bitcoin’s current market value. Crypto Briefing reported that the firm’s net average purchase price across all its acquisitions stands at roughly £82,886, or about $111,548 per coin — nearly double Bitcoin’s trading level of around $63,000 at the time of the buy.
Gross Bitcoin purchases to date total roughly £233.5 million, with net purchases of about £224.8 million once previous disposals are taken into account. The gap traces back in part to a sale of 177.89 BTC in July 2026, executed at an average price of $65,762 per coin, to repay an $11.7 million convertible instrument known as Smarter Convert nearly two weeks before maturity.
That early repayment, backed by investment manager TOBAM and affiliated entities, also removed the potential dilution of 7,718,551 ordinary shares tied to the convertible structure from the company’s fully diluted share calculations. Chief executive Andrew Webley has previously said the convertible had served as an alternative funding route while the treasury strategy was being built, but that management no longer regards such instruments as the most suitable tool at the company’s current stage.
Leverage and dilution metrics under scrutiny
The company’s Bitcoin-per-share metric, its so-called “BTC yield,” came in at -4.80% for the second quarter of 2026, indicating that shareholders’ effective exposure to Bitcoin per share declined over the period rather than growing, according to Crypto Briefing’s analysis of the disclosures.
The firm has drawn approximately £18.5 million from a credit facility with Coinbase, equating to around 17% leverage at a variable interest rate of 6%. On the same day as the latest Bitcoin purchase, it also raised about £1.016 million through share placements and exercised 2.875 million warrants, lifting total shares in issue to 374.84 million. Custody of its holdings is handled by institutional providers Coinbase and Kraken rather than through self-custody.
A leveraged bet dressed as a listed company
The Smarter Web Company continues to run a web design and marketing business alongside its treasury strategy, but the Bitcoin holdings have become the dominant feature of its market story, echoing the approach pioneered in the US by Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy. Its self-described “10 Year Plan” commits the firm to continued accumulation regardless of near-term price swings.
For UK investors, the structure raises familiar questions about leveraged corporate exposure to a volatile asset: a cost basis nearly double the spot price, variable-rate borrowing against a credit line, and a negative yield metric suggest the strategy’s near-term profitability now hinges heavily on a sustained Bitcoin rally and stable financing conditions.
Read more: Bitcoin’s stall near $63,000 leaves institutional allocators awaiting a clear signal
