The series of large-scale cryptocurrency investment announcements by small businesses has led VanEck experts to point out the possibility of stock price manipulation.

## Alert for Investors

Amid the bullish market for cryptocurrencies, there has been a succession of announcements regarding large-scale cryptocurrency purchase plans by small publicly listed companies. Many of these companies, despite having market capitalizations in the tens of millions to hundreds of millions of dollars, have declared plans to build cryptocurrency finances on the scale of billions of dollars; however, experts are raising concerns about the sustainability of these initiatives.

Matthew Siegel, Head of Digital Assets at VanEck, pointed out in an interview with The Block that many of these plans could be attempts to boost the stock prices of small-cap stocks. “If the market capitalization is small and there is no disclosure of new major investors, it would be better to consider it a temporary speculative action,” he analyzed, urging investors to adopt a cautious stance.

For example, Trident Digital Tech, listed on the NASDAQ, announced a plan to raise up to $500 million in XRP financing, but the company’s market capitalization is only about $16 million. The automotive and hospitality company Webers International has also announced an XRP financing plan of up to $300 million, with a market capitalization of less than $100 million.

Additionally, the educational technology company Crassover Holdings (down 67% year-to-date) announced a Solana financial construction of up to $500 million despite having a market capitalization of less than $100 million. The DeFi Development Company has entered into a contract to raise funds for Solana purchases through a stock sale of up to $5 billion, soaring from a market capitalization of $7 million at the end of March to approximately $380 million. Some stocks have seen their prices increase by 3 to 30 times year-to-date.

On the other hand, the affiliate company SharpLink Gaming (SBET) announced the purchase of approximately $463 million worth of ETH, becoming the world’s second-largest holding company after the Ethereum Foundation. However, following the announcement, the stock price plummeted by about 72%, reflecting the market’s skeptical reaction.

These movements are seen as a mimicry of the successful large-scale Bitcoin purchasing strategy by Michael Saylor’s strategy company. Mr. Siegel advises investors to carefully verify the consistency between a company’s reality and its announcements in their investment decisions.