Stafford Masie to lead bitcoin charge at Altvest — Stafford Masie

Altvest Capital – soon to be renamed as the Africa Bitcoin Corporation – has appointed Stafford Masie, previously its lead independent director, as executive chairman and tasked him with leading its bitcoin treasury strategy.

The appointment comes days after Altvest announced its name change as it shifts focus to building a bitcoin treasury, seeking to emulate the success of companies such Strategy (previously MicroStrategy) and Metaplanet.

Masie, who describes himself as a bitcoin “maximalist”, is a strong proponent of the cryptocurrency, even lobbying for South Africa to include the cryptocurrency in its strategic reserve. Norma Sephuma will replace Masie as lead independent director on the Altvest board.

The adoption of Altvest’s bitcoin treasury strategy will demand “specialist executive attention”, the company said in a statement to investors on Thursday.

Masie’s new role will be to drive the execution of the strategy, focusing on “strategic direction, mentorship and the fostering of external relations, particularly with major investors and regulatory bodies, allowing Warren Wheatley, the CEO, to focus on the day-to-day management of the company’s business activities”.

“Masie has over 30 years’ experience in the IT industry, having held influential roles in prominent companies such as Telkom, Dimension Data, Novell and Google. He has served as an independent non-executive board member of Discovery Bank and Discovery Bank Holdings, Advtech Group, chair of the Wits/Telkom Innovation Centre, as well as the CSIR. He has also invested in and launched several leading-edge global technology (fintech, AI and crypto) start-ups,” the statement said.

Capital raising

“He worked for Google, establishing its initial South African presence as country manager for Google South Africa. Before Google he was MD of Novell sub-Saharan Africa and spent more than six years in the US at Novell’s corporate HQ.”

On Monday, Altvest announced it had formally adopted a bitcoin treasury strategy after acquiring an initial 1.00464 bitcoin for R1.81-million earlier this year as part of what it described as its “long-term treasury management strategy”.

Read: Bitcoin payments a step closer to mainstream adoption in South Africa

“Building on its initial BTC (bitcoin) acquisition, the board of directors of Altvest is pleased to announce the formal adoption of its bitcoin treasury strategy, in terms of which the company will accumulate and hold BTC to preserve value, hedge against inflation and increase long-term shareholder exposure to BTC’s potential upside,” it said.

“The board is of the view that this strategic shift, which will position Altvest as Africa’s first bitcoin treasury company, will offer its shareholders long-term value anchored in a resilient and globally liquid asset.”

In a separate statement to investors on Monday, it said it is launching an equity capital raise through the allotment and issue of up to a million Altvest at up to R11/share. The equity raise will be offered to South African investors only and will be implemented by way of an offer which opens with immediate effect and which “may close at any time”, it said.

A growing number of companies globally hold bitcoin on their balance sheets as part of a corporate treasury strategy. The pioneer was MicroStrategy, which began aggressively buying bitcoin in 2020 under CEO Michael Saylor, amassing hundreds of thousands of coins.

Read: Luno pushes treasury to recognise bitcoin as an ‘onshore asset’

Tesla briefly held bitcoin in 2021, though it later sold much of its stake. Payment firms like Block (Square) have also added bitcoin to reserves, reflecting founder Jack Dorsey’s conviction in crypto. The rationale is typically to hedge against inflation, diversify cash holdings and align with digital-native customers. These moves remain controversial, however, as volatility can heavily impact reported earnings. – © 2025 NewsCentral Media

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