An online carpet and flooring retailer based in the United Kingdom has followed in the footsteps of Tesla, Microstrategy and Real Bedford by buying bitcoin (BTC) and putting it on the balance sheet.
Speaking with Cointelegraph, Paul Brewster, CEO of Flooring Hut, explained that:
“We see it [Bitcoin] As an asset that probably has the best potential for growth of our capital stock at this point in time.
He explained that the group decided not to keep its cash reserves in a bank account, as bitcoin can provide the greatest potential to provide returns that ultimately provide greater value for customers.
According to Companies House, the British government agency that keeps the UK companies register, Flooring Hut’s accounts from 2023 showed cash reserves of £75,105, which could cost around 3.3 BTC at the time of writing.
Furthermore, the company is bitcoin only. Brewster explained that “Bitcoin is an asset class in itself;” It is similar to “digital gold”. While Brewster and his partners have interests in the broader cryptocurrency sector on a personal level, “we’re not going to be putting them on Flooring Hut’s balance sheet anytime soon.”
Flooring Hut will not hold coins with crypto companies like Coinbase or the now defunct FTX. Instead, the company will resist pulling out the rug and keep the bitcoin in cold storage, Brewster said.
The bold decision by the online retailer operating in the £2 billion carpet industry is particularly surprising as it is “one of the very few areas where the application of the technology is severely lacking,” Brewster explained. One of the United Kingdom’s most popular legacy finance publications, The Financial Times, immediately took a dig at Flooring Hut on its page Alphaville.
In the article, the FT reported that Flooring Hut News was “clearly engineering the kind of publicity stunt that sucks for crappy blogs like ours.” The article’s comments section is even more scathing, with one commenter exclaiming, “This is pure comedy!” for news.
Brewster acknowledges the somewhat negative portrayal of bitcoin in the mainstream media:
“You just have to keep in mind that people make sense out of what they read in the media. When they see the word bitcoin they think, ‘Oh, is this company legit?'”
However, businesses in the United Kingdom are looking for new ways to invest their capital as the value of cash left in the bank diminishes under high inflation. The United Kingdom and its currency, the pound, are suffering more severely than the European Union. As Brewster points out, managing a business in 2023 and under such tough economic conditions is about being “progressive.”
“We’re going to invest this back into the company, driving greater value for money for our customers, giving us a competitive advantage over our competitors.”
The company is headed down the road to the bitcoin standard: building a business with bitcoin in mind. Next, the group will explore the implementation of Bitcoin Lightning Network payments to complement its online MasterCard, Visa and PayPal payment options.
Paying in bitcoin is a small but growing trend in the United Kingdom, especially as the Lightning Network offers lower fees than existing payment providers.
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The price per bitcoin in British pound sterling has risen by over 60% in 2023, starting at £13,700 on January 1st. Nonetheless, bitcoin remains volatile. Today the price has declined by 2% while some traders predict a drop towards $19,000 in the near term.
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