Beckham-backed Prenetics abandons Bitcoin accumulation plans and shifts focus to health brand IM8

Prenetics Global, the nutritional supplement company backed by David Beckham, announced it will discontinue its Bitcoin accumulation strategy less than three months after funding its crypto treasury program. Prenetics stated that it will refocus its strategic efforts on its consumer health brand IM8, which it calls "the fastest-growing supplement brand in the industry's history." The company explicitly stated in its latest announcement that it will not make any further purchases of Bitcoin (BTC). Previously, in October, Prenetics completed an oversubscribed $48 million equity financing round on Nasdaq, with the funds originally intended to be used to advance its Bitcoin treasury strategy and expand the IM8 business. Investors at the time included Kraken, Exodus, GPTX (owned by Jihan Wu), DL Holdings, and American Ventures. As of now, Prenetics discloses it still holds 510 BTC and has over $70 million in cash and cash equivalents. IM8 CEO and co-founder Danny Yeung stated that the board and management unanimously agree that focusing resources on IM8's growth opportunities is the best path to achieving long-term, sustainable shareholder value. The Block points out that amid the recent crypto market correction, some "crypto asset treasury companies" are adjusting their strategies, including slowing or halting their acquisitions of digital assets and instead focusing on share buybacks or diversifying their business. (The Block)