This week, Norwegian billionaire Kjell Inge Røkke announced the founding of a new crypto-company, SeeTee, as well as a $60 million investment into 1170 Bitcoins.
Røkke then joins a growing list of billionaires and "establishment" companies making large Bitcoin investments in the past few months. And while the news of yet another billionaire entering the crypto scene is news enough in and of itself, this story ought to be interesting for a few other reasons.
Because while the large investment is interesting, his letter to shareholders ought to be the main story.
Norwegian billionaire Kjell Inge Røkke with a clear message on the newly founded company's website seetee.io
The new company website goes on to make a direct invitation for developers and entrepreneurs in the blockchain-space to get in touch.
We encourage entrepreneurs with knowledge about, experience with, and big ideas and ambitions for Bitcoin to get in touch.
- Quote from seetee.io, a new crypto investment company in the Aker family
Large industries legitimizing, entering, and promoting Bitcoin
The news, which first broke on Monday, has since dominated the news this week across Norwegian publications related to topics all the way from finance, technology and StartUp-related media, to the big mainstream media.
And while the investment of $60 million in and of itself was good PR and promotion of Bitcoin, the statements made by Røkke and Aker in the letter to the shareholders were even more bullish:
Aker has established SeeTee to make investments in bitcoin and blockchain technology. The company will invest in projects and companies in the Bitcoin ecosystem and is currently funded with NOK 500 million invested in the cryptocurrency bitcoin. SeeTee builds on the Aker Group's knowledge and experience in industrial software, financial technology, and green energy chains. The investment opportunities within Bitcoin and the blockchain ecosystem will be concentrated in areas such as cybersecurity, financial transactions, and low-emission solutions.
The Chairman of the Board of Aker ASA, Kjell Inge Røkke, has shared his reflections on Bitcoin and the establishment of SeeTee in a shareholder letter available at www.seetee.io.
- Public announcement by Aker ASA at akerasa.com
In the 23-page long shareholder letter which you can find at seetee.io, Røkke goes on to present a bullish case for Bitcoin, and how the company intends to "hodle" and purchase more. Thus making similar statements as Tesla did earlier this year.
We may not be as rebellious as the" cypher punks "who invented bitcoin, but will be much more progressive than most established companies, Røkke writes in the letter, which is peppered with common phrases found in crypto."
- Article in Dagens Næringsliv, one of Norway's largest Financial Newspapers.
So who is Kjell Inge Røkke, and what is Aker?
If you're not living in Norway, then you probably have no idea who this guy is or what Aker is. Røkke is the largest shareholder and in "Aker ASA" a company family consisting of several companies with a joint number of 15 000 employees across 50 countries.
The company started out in the maritime sector before seeing significant growth as an Oil and Gas technology services, with the largest companies still being Aker BP and Aker Solutions. In recent years, however, the family has made numerous new entries into green energy from ocean wind to hydrogen.
Aker and Røkke have had no known prior connections to the blockchain space and instead been associated with more traditional and established industries. Therefore, it's been even more newsworthy to see them make not only found a new company dedicated to crypto alongside a significant investment into Bitcoin, but also to heavily promote it both to their shareholders and externally.
We're no longer "early" in Bitcoin. And that's a good thing.
Røkke's Bitcoin entry adds to the trend we've seen so far in 2020 and 2021 of new and large companies representing the "establishment" making large entries into crypto. It seems appropriate to therefore conclude that we are now no longer "early on" in its adoption, as it is no longer a niche for the small and medium-sized actors.
But that doesn't mean that the biggest opportunities may not still lie ahead of us, with companies like SeeTee providing entrepreneurs and developers with access not only to capital but also to connections, experience and commitment from more serious and competent sources than the likely ICO "crypto investor" or miner are likely to provide new projects aiming to fundraise. If utilized correctly, this source of fuel can add new pace to crypto-related projects with more serious ambitions than benefiting from the next pump.
Especially when you have committed investors with
We will build and invest in projects and companies in Bitcoin’s ecosystem. This is where our true passion is! Our home game is industri-al applications. But we also believe nicely designed modern user inter-faces will enable new applications wherever transactions happen. I am particularly interested in micropayments and how these may enable us to avoid usernames, passwords, and our personal data being monetised with, and often without, our knowledge or consent
- Kjell Inge Røkke in his letter to shareholders published this week
The full shareholder letter, which can be found at seetee.io, does more than just explain the founding of the new company, it also makes a bullish case for Bitcoin and states its intention of accumulating more and contributing to its growth.
Needless to say, the timing has been good given that the price has already gone up more than 20% in just the first week. It will be exciting to see not just how the value of the investment turns out, but also what new companies and partnerships can emerge from it.