Zhibao Sells $220M Stock for Bitcoin, Hands Board to Buyer
Get the Finance newsletter
Daily finance — markets, central banks, M&A, the prints that move money. Free.
- Zhibao Technology signed a non-binding term sheet with Joyertech and Information OPC for a PIPE financing deal worth approximately $220 million, paid in roughly 3,500 Bitcoin rather than cash.
- Joyertech would designate a majority of Zhibao's board of directors at closing, effectively taking control of the company while current management continues running day-to-day operations of the legacy insurance business.
- Zhibao (Nasdaq: ZBAO) received a Nasdaq deficiency letter on July 15 for trading below $1 per share, with shares hovering around $0.22 before the Bitcoin treasury announcement.
- ZBAO stock spiked from $0.15 to $0.40 in under four hours after the announcement—more than a 2X move—before settling around $0.24, still roughly a 60% gain on the day.
- Zhibao has 180 calendar days, until January 6, 2027, to regain compliance with Nasdaq's $1 minimum bid price requirement.
- The structure—receiving Bitcoin directly as payment rather than buying BTC on the open market the way Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) did starting in 2020—seats the treasury on the balance sheet from day one and is part of a trend now spanning more than 150 publicly traded companies, though U.K.-based Satsuma Technology announced just days earlier it would sell its remaining Bitcoin and shutter operations.
Why it matters: Zhibao's deal shows the Bitcoin treasury playbook has twisted from a balance-sheet strategy into an acquisition vector: the buyer doesn't just fund BTC purchases, it takes the board majority outright. For a sub-$1 stock facing Nasdaq delisting, the roughly $220 million Bitcoin injection is a lifeline, but it comes at the cost of ceding control to Joyertech while the founders merely babysit the insurance business until a future restructuring.
