Popular marijuana-themed publication High Times is accepting Bitcoin and Ethereum for shares of its stock, which are now being offered in an initial public offering (IPO) at USD 11 per share. In August 2018, it initially announced that it would be accepting crypto during the IPO. But on 13 August, it sent a statement to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the United States clarifying that it would not actually be accepting Bitcoin.
Despite this letter to the SEC, High Times is still accepting Bitcoin and Ethereum in exchange for IPO shares. High Times representative Jon Capetta confirmed that it still is taking Bitcoin and Ethereum payments, but clarified that it isn’t holding any crypto.
Instead, crypto will be converted to fiat at the time payment is received, to avoid any legal implications of selling shares for crypto. Capetta said, “We’re accepting [cryptocurrencies] as a payment option, but technically Fund America takes the Bitcoin and Ethereum … It’s similar to the way if we were doing an international IPO, and we were accepting the pound or the euro, those guys aren’t accepting that money, they’re converting it to [dollars]”.
The publication is planning on going public on the NASDAQ stock exchange but before that, it is selling shares for USD 11, a 10% discount on the expected opening price on NASDAQ.
Perhaps if High Times’ experiment with crypto goes well, then other IPOs in the future will consider exchanging shares for crypto. Crypto is a fast, efficient, and irreversible payment method, giving IPO operators peace of mind. This is unlike most types of fiat transactions which can be reversed, which could cause financial trouble for an IPO.
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