David Beckham-Backed Company Halts Bitcoin Purchases - What This Means for Crypto Adoption

Another corporate Bitcoin strategy hits the pause button—this time with celebrity sparkle.

The Strategic Shift

A firm once championed by football icon David Beckham has quietly stopped adding Bitcoin to its balance sheet. No grand announcement, no dramatic press release—just a cold halt to its digital asset acquisition program. It’s the latest sign that boardroom enthusiasm for crypto can be as fickle as a fashion trend.

Following the Herd... Backwards

The move mirrors a broader corporate retreat from Bitcoin treasury allocations. After a wave of bullish forecasts and splashy headlines, the reality of volatility, regulatory gray areas, and quarterly earnings pressure is setting in. For every company that touts ‘digital transformation,’ there’s a CFO remembering that accounting rules weren’t written for assets that can swing 20% before lunch.

The Celebrity Factor Fades

Beckham’s association lent the company a glossy, mainstream sheen. Its pivot away from Bitcoin suggests that even star power can’t outweigh the fundamental pressures facing corporate crypto investments. When the glamour meets the ledger, the ledger often wins—especially when shareholders prefer predictable dividends over promises of a decentralized future.

A Reality Check for Crypto Narratives

This isn’t a death knell for Bitcoin, but it is a cold splash of water. The ‘institutional adoption’ story has always had two sides: the visionary embrace and the pragmatic retreat. For every firm quietly building infrastructure, another very publicly hits the brakes—often when the financials get more attention than the PR.

Where does this leave the market? Watching. The finance world loves a bold bet, but it loves a safe exit strategy more. Sometimes the most telling move in crypto isn’t who’s buying in, but who’s decided that holding cash—plain, boring, government-issued cash—is the real innovation.

Prenetics’ Shift in Bitcoin Strategy

In June, Prenetics introduced a strategy to accumulate cryptocurrencies on their balance sheet, aiming to purchase one BTC daily. This model aligned closely with the approach led by Michael Saylor, known for advocating long-term cryptocurrency holdings within corporate treasuries. Nevertheless, the rapid market correction in October diminished the company’s appetite for further bitcoin accumulation.

From December 4th, Prenetics announced the cessation of new BTC acquisitions. The company explained that the persistent fragility in the cryptocurrency market necessitated a mandatory reassessment of their capital allocation strategy. However, they emphasized the retention of 510 BTC in their balance sheet, valued at approximately $45 million at current prices. While Prenetics’ shares surged 189% since the start of the year, shares of Strategy, led by Saylor, fell around 48% in the same period.

The Company’s Focus on IM8

Danny Yeung, CEO and co-founder of Prenetics, announced a funding event on October 27th, which included participation from investors like Kraken, Exodus, GPTX, and American Ventures. Yeung conveyed that the funds WOULD be dedicated to scaling the IM8 brand globally and pursuing a goal of $1 billion in revenue, along with Bitcoin objectives, over the next five years.

Over the past 11 months, IM8’s annual recurring revenue has exceeded $100 million, clarifying the board’s priorities. Yeung stated that IM8 had been scaling much faster than anticipated, emphasizing that the most robust path to creating shareholder value involves directing full attention to this business unit.