Bitcoin : Half-Year Report 2024

Published: 2024-10-09 04:47:03 ET ADE.DE

HALF-YEAR REPORT 2024

CONTENTS

01 LETTER TO SHAREHOLDERS

INTERIM MANAGEMENT REPORT 15

INTERIM FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 27

01 LETTER TO SHAREHOLDERS

BITCOIN GROUP SE AT A GLANCE

FOREWORD BY THE MANAGEMENT BOARD

THE BITCOIN GROUP SE ON THE CAPITAL MARKET

HALF-YEAR REPORT 2024 LETTER TO SHAREHOLDERS INTERIM MANAGEMENT REPORT INTERIM FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

BITCOIN GROUP SE AT A GLANCE

BITCOIN GROUP SE KEY FIGURES

H1 2024

H1 2023

Number of customers

1,063,000

1,048,000

Bitcoin price

EUR

57,699.83

28,082.39

Ethereum price

EUR

3,174.06

1,737.89

Revenue

EUR

4,195

5,619

thousand

EBITDA

EUR

575

-559

thousand

Earnings after taxes

EUR

549

2,248

thousand

Earnings per share

EUR

0.11

0.38

Equity ratio

73.6

75.21

FOREWORD BY THE MANAGEMENT BOARD

Dear shareholders,

The stabilization signs discernible towards the end of the 2023 fiscal year continued in the first half of 2024. Bitcoin Group SE recorded steady growth which gives us cause to view the future with confidence.

The cryptocurrency market grew strongly in value in the first half of 2024. Global cryptocurrency market capitalization increased by around 36% to USD 2.27 trillion. As the most important digital currencies in the crypto universe, Bitcoin and Ethereum posted growth of 48% and 50% respectively in the first half of 2024, thereby surpassing all share indices and gold by a considerable margin. However, this growth was not in a straight line. While the first quarter was almost exclusively marked by price rises for the important crypto currencies, the second quarter saw high volatility in the crypto scene due to various special factors with cryptocurrencies experiencing falling prices and a corresponding decline in average trading volumes. On the one hand, this situation is due to the ghosts of the past. Creditors of the Mt. Gox crypto exchange, a dramatic bankruptcy dating back to 2014, are due to receive at least some of their Bitcoin. In expectation of a certain propensity to sell several billion dollars

of Bitcoin from this source, the Bitcoin price reacted with corresponding weakness in the summer. On the other, this development was further compounded in the second quarter by the sale of Bitcoin confiscated by law enforcement authorities in USA and Germany.

In this mixed environment, Bitcoin Group SE generated revenue of EUR 4.20 million in the first half of 2024 following EUR 5.62 million in the same period in the previous year. This revenue trend reflects trading activity on our crypto trading platform Bitcoin.de which was subject to the opposing forces of economic and geopolitical conditions on one side and positive, albeit volatile, growth in the value of the crypto market on the other. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) stood at EUR 0.57 million following a figure of EUR -0.56 million in the first half of 2023. The net result was earnings per share of EUR 0.11 compared with EUR 0.38 in the previous year.

The positive movement in the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies resulted in a further increase in the company's net crypto assets in the first half of the year to EUR 245.6 million by comparison with EUR 164.8 million as of the end of the 2023 fiscal year. We continue to enjoy an extremely sound balance sheet with an equity ratio as of June 30, 2024 of 73.6% (December 31, 2023: 74.7%) as well as cash and cash equivalents of EUR 9.8 million following EUR 11.1 million as of December 31, 2023. Following the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders held on August 30, 2024, this position enabled us once again to distribute a dividend of EUR 0.10 per share as in previous years.

HALF-YEAR REPORT 2024 LETTER TO SHAREHOLDERS INTERIM MANAGEMENT REPORT INTERIM FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Looking ahead to the future of the crypto market in general and specifically that of the Bitcoin Group, notwithstanding the above-mentioned irritants which it should be noted are of limited duration, the positive aspects outweigh the negative with respect to developments in the crypto environment in the first half of 2024. Besides technological developments which solve the scaling problems with Ethereum, among other things, thereby promoting distribution and acceptance, mention should be made first and foremost of the introduction of the first spot ETFs for Bitcoin in the USA in January of this year. In the first half of the year, the Bitcoin ETF market recorded cumulative inflows of over USD 17.6 billion in the USA. After the reporting date for the first half of the year, the US Securities and Exchange Commission also approved the first listed ETFs for Ethereum. These regulated exchange traded products help to increase institutional demand for crypto assets. They create a direct opportunity for institutional investors - from hedge funds to pension funds - to participate in cryptocurrency markets. The evolution of crypto assets from a supposedly speculative investment to a true asset class continues to take shape with the result that the range of investors open to investing in cryptocurrencies will grow accordingly.

In spite of the regulatory milestones that have been passed in the crypto sphere in the last few months, the market is still in the starting blocks and offers great scope for growth. The sheer proportions make this an obvious assumption. The aforementioned global market value of all cryptocurrencies equates to a mere 13% of the market value of the "Magnificent Seven" or, to put it in its global context, around 1.8% of the global market value of all equities and 1.7% of the global bond volume. So although crypto as an asset class is growing up, it is still far from fully grown.

Quite apart from this optimistic long-term perspective, we also view the short-term catalysts for the crypto markets with excitement. The political stance towards the crypto scene in the USA as the largest market is becoming increasingly friendly which can also be put down to the fact that the sector is investing politically through corresponding donations in connection with the current US elections. On the subject of the US elections, Donald Trump is regarded as clearly crypto-friendly, while Kamala Harris can at least be categorized as neutral, judging by her recent pronouncements. To this extent, the US elections can be expected to provide positive momentum.

However, the US central bank, the Federal Reserve, is expected to have a greater impact through its interest rate policy. Following the ECB and various other central banks, the cycle of interest rate cuts has also started in the USA. On the one hand, the money supply is growing as a result which is generally favorable for assets such as cryptos and gold, while on the other, higher market liquidity supports capital flows into risk assets such as Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Added to this is the fact that assets that generate no cash flow and pay no dividends as is the case with cryptocurrencies in the same way as gold, become more attractive by comparison with bonds or the money market as interest rates fall which also has a positive impact on demand for crypto.

Most of the crypto industry's growth is still ahead of it. As a company that has been part of the story from the outset, the Bitcoin Group will benefit from this growth. Every day, our employees work towards this goal with the utmost dedication for which we would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere thanks. We thank our shareholders for their confidence in our business model and our strategy, and we hope that you, like us, remain convinced of the potential of our company. We look forward to continue shaping the future of the Bitcoin Group together with you.

Herford, September 2024

Marco Bodewein

Michael Nowak

Per Hlawatschek

Management Board

HALF-YEAR REPORT 2024 LETTER TO SHAREHOLDERS INTERIM MANAGEMENT REPORT INTERIM FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Disclaimer

Bitcoin Group SE published this content on October 09, 2024, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on October 09, 2024 at 08:46:04.613.