If you’ve been wondering how to use your crypto to purchase stock holdings in companies, a Scottish brewer might be right for you. UK craft beer company BrewDog announced that investors can purchase shares using crypto. The brewer also extended its crowdfunding round until 2020, in a published statement on its blog.
The funding round is dubbed “Equity Punk,” and would be investors can purchase shares using 10 cryptocurrencies. These crypto assets are Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin SV, Ethereum, Litecoin, OmiseGO, Qtum, Augur, Ripple, and 0x.
The company also promises to ship six cases of its latest crypto-themed beer Cryptonite to investors who buy stocks in the company using cryptocurrency.
Equity Punk, and BrewDog’s crypto friendliness
The Equity Punk scheme was created by the Scottish beer manufacturer to allow stock trading firms and other potential investors to purchase shares in the company. Since it launched, Brewdog has raised about $90 million from 114,000 shareholders. Shares start at £25 ($31) per unit, and it would seem that the decision to make crypto-based purchases available is a smart way to open the company to a wider pool of potential investors. As with most investments of this nature, there’s risk involved.
Per the Equity Punks investment prospectus the company warned all investors that share prices could surge or plummet, so they should pretty much be ready for any eventuality.
BrewDog is one of the most crypto-friendly brewers in the world. Last year, the company started accepting cryptocurrencies for one of its high-trafficked bars out in Canary Wharf, London. At the time, the Brewer accepted payments in both Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash. To convince users to pay with crypto, the company gave the first 100 people to patronize the store free Bitcoin Cash wallets loaded with a minimum of £12.
Room to Improve
The company’s recent announcement also sets up a continued symbiotic relationship between cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology, and the global booze industry. Last year, Anheuser-Busch InBev, arguably the largest brewery and beer manufacturer in the world, partnered with blockchain startup Civic to optimize their beer vending machines.
In a presentation at the 2018 Consensus conference in New York, the startup announced that with its app, Annheuser could effectively stem the issue of underage drinking. Essentially, would-be drinkers would scan a barcode with the Civic app, which will go on to check the person’s age. Upon verifying that the customer is over the 21-year-old legal drinking age, the machine would go on to dispense a 12oz Budweiser can.
A press release from Civic also revealed that the machines would work autonomously, as the company’s systems had already verified the personal details of the users.
While this would undoubtedly help for several reasons, it also goes to show that companies can get more benefits from implementing blockchain than just the cliches of supply chain management, raw material identification, and others.
No one could have thought that the Civic-Annheuser partnership would yield this level of innovation, and up till now, the thought of cryptocurrency-based stock investments was considered by many as a no-go point. Cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology are gradually transforming the entire alcohol and brewery industry, and with consistent work, other global industries will feel this wave as well.
