Norweigan energy tycoon spins up new Bitcoin business

Norweigan energy service provider Aker Solutions is spinning up a new business dedicated to Bitcoin (BTC) after its CEO, Kjell Inge Røkke, talked up the importance of the digital asset in a recent shareholder letter. 

On Monday, Aker announced that it had established Seetee — a crypto-focused investment company that seeks to tap into the Bitcoin ecosystem. The spin-off company has been allocated $59 million, or 500 million Norwegian kroner, which Aker says will “increase significantly over time as we gain experience and identify exciting opportunities.”

The company explained:

“Aker’s de­ci­sion to en­ter Bit­coin through See­tee is the re­sult of a long and fun­da­men­tal dis­cus­sion about val­ue.”

Seetee plans to establish mining operations that transfer stranded electricity to various assets. “Bit­coin is, in our eyes, a load-bal­anc­ing eco­nom­ic bat­tery, and bat­ter­ies are es­sen­tial to the en­er­gy tran­si­tion re­quired to reach the tar­gets of the Paris Agreement,” the company said in its shareholder letter.

In addition to Seetee, Aker plans to hold all its liquid investable assets in Bitcoin, joining the ranks of MicroStrategy and Tesla in accumulating BTC reserves. In the case of Tesla, the company recently announced it would allocate 7.7% of its gross cash to BTC.

As an engineering company based in Oslo, Aker Solutions provides integrated solutions for offshore drillers and other oil and gas companies. The company is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol AKSO. The stock is currently trading just under $15.00, having tripled since the March 2020 flash crash that wiped out global equity markets.

Bitcoin’s bull market is driving mass adoption of digital assets. Retail investors, investment funds and now even corporations are actively seeking exposure to Bitcoin for various reasons. As Grayscale’s Michael Sonnenshein outlined earlier this year at the CFC St. Moritz Conference, traditional players are entering cryptocurrency with less career risk attached to their decision.