$8.6B IT firm Globant revealed as Bitcoin’s latest institutional buyer

The technology solutions firm revealed it purchased $500,000 worth of BTC during the first quarter of 2021.

Filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reveal that major IT conglomerate Globant has become the latest big firm to invest in Bitcoin.

The firm declared its crypto asset purchases for the first three months of the year in a statement to the SEC made on May 25 stating:

“During the first quarter of 2021, the Company purchased an aggregate of [$500,000] in crypto assets, comprised solely of bitcoin.”

The company’s crypto investments and expenses were listed among its “intangible assets,” alongside licenses, customer relationships, customer contracts, and non-compete agreements in the company’s possession.

Globant stated that it declares Bitcoin as an intangible asset because it “lacks physical form and there is no limit to its useful life.” It added that any gains made on digital assets will not be recognized until they are sold.

Globant is an IT and software development company founded in 2003 that operates predominantly in Latin America but also has offices in the U.K. and U.S.

Despite revealing the presence of Bitcoin on its balance sheet, the firm has not revealed the cost-basis paid for its BTC stash. However, with its purchases coming in the first quarter, any BTC buys made from the second week of February onwards would currently be sitting at a loss.

While numerous publicly traded companies have purchased BTC in recent months, many are currently underwater on their BTC buys. According to Bitcointreasuries, six publicly-listed firms are currently in the red on their BTC acquisitions now that Bitcoin has retraced back to its early-February price levels.

Japanese online gaming firm Nexon announced its $100 million BTC purchase on April 28, with the Bitcoin now worth $67 million. Seetee, a subsidiary of Norwegian energy giant Aker, revealed a $58.6 million Bitcoin purchase in early March that has declined in value to $44.9 million today. Chinese tech company Meitu, who announced a $49.5 million in Bitcoin buys during March and April, has seen the value of its crypto holdings shrink to $36 million.

Financial consulting firm Brooker Group is also down $2 million on its $6.6 million BTC buy, while enterprise cloud platform Phunware Inc has seen the value of its $1.5 million Bitcoin stash fall by one-third since purchasing.

Multinational investment firm BlackRock also appears to have lost 33% of its $360,000 BTC acquisition. However, the firm acquired the position in March as profits from a futures trade it entered in January, meaning BlockRock did not spend any fiat to accumulate its crypto.