BTCS Profile
BTCS Inc. (BTCS) is an early entrant in the crypto asset (also referred to 'cryptocurrencies', 'crypto', or 'tokens') market and one of the first U.S. publicly-traded companies with a primary focus on blockchain infrastructure and staking.
Through the company's blockchain-infrastructure operations, the company secures and operates validator nodes on disruptive next-generation blockchain networks that power Web3, earning native token rewards by staking the company's proof-of-stake crypto assets. The company's Digital Asset Platform, StakeSeeker, is designed to empower users to better understand and grow their crypto holdings with innovative portfolio analytics and a non-custodial process to earn staking rewards through the direct participation in blockchain consensus algorithms.
BTCS is committed to operating blockchain infrastructure as a Validator that is secure, efficient, and scalable. The company specializes in operating validator nodes on various DPoS and PoS-based blockchain networks, including Ethereum, Cosmos, Kava, Tezos, Avalanche, Kusama, Mina, Akash, Cardano, Oasis, and NEAR Protocol. The company stakes the crypto assets native to these blockchains on the validator nodes it operates to earn rewards in connection with the validation of transactions occurring on those blockchain networks.
BTCS's blockchain infrastructure operations form the core growth for its Digital Asset Platform, StakeSeeker. BTCS utilizes cloud infrastructure to operate and run its validator nodes and does not operate a data center or own physical assets, such as servers. BTCS plans to expand its PoS operations to secure other disruptive blockchain protocols that allow for Delegating.
Staking-as-a-service ('StaaS') is a central component of BTCS's strategy. StaaS allows crypto asset holders to earn rewards by participating in network consensus mechanisms through Staking and Delegating their crypto assets to the company-operated validator nodes. As a non-custodial Validator operator, BTCS receives a percentage of token holders' staking rewards generated as a validator node fee, creating the opportunity for potential scalable revenue and business growth with limited additional costs.
The delegation process central to DPoS blockchains and the company's StaaS strategy revolves around the non-custodial nature of these networks. The blockchain network calculates rewards earned, which are then distributed directly to the Delegator's wallet. At no point does the Validator take custody of the staked crypto assets or rewards earned through Staking. Therefore, BTCS does not obtain custody or facilitate transfers of any third-party assets in its role as a Validator or StaaS provider.
The self-custody of crypto assets by Delegators is a critical aspect of the company's non-custodial staking model. Recent headlines of bankruptcies, fraud, risk management failures, and misappropriation of customer assets in the crypto industry have raised concerns about the security of custodial exchanges and similar platforms. BTCS ensures that substantially all of its crypto assets are held in secure digital wallets, with less than 0.1% of its crypto assets on crypto exchanges. The company's exposure to companies, such as FTX, Blockfi, and Celsius is limited to the negative impact these platforms had on the value of the company's assets in the crypto markets.
StakeSeeker's Stake Hub is central to BTCS's growth strategy, allowing users to Delegate their crypto assets to the company's validator nodes. The growth of both StakeSeeker's user base, as well as the number and size of staked crypto assets by Delegators to the company-run validator nodes is critical to BTCS's strategy and success. StaaS provides a more accessible way for crypto asset holders to participate in blockchain network consensus mechanisms, thereby promoting the growth and adoption of blockchain technology.
The company intends to acquire additional crypto assets and to continue to develop and expand upon its Digital Asset Platform to enable it to offer a wider range of functions and availability for use with a greater variety of crypto assets. The company owns and plans to expand its crypto asset holdings, both through staking its existing crypto asset holdings on PoS blockchain networks and potentially through other means.
Growth Strategy
Staking-as-a-service is a central component of BTCS's strategy. StaaS allows crypto asset holders to earn rewards by participating in network consensus mechanisms through Staking and Delegating their cryptocurrencies to company-operated validator nodes.
In January 2023, the company launched the beta of StakeSeeker, BTCS's proprietary Digital Asset Platform. StakeSeeker is a comprehensive crypto dashboard and education center for crypto asset holders to learn how to earn crypto rewards by Staking through its non-custodial Stake Hub and evaluate their crypto portfolios across exchanges and wallets in a single analytics platform. The company's internally-developed dashboard utilizes application programming interfaces (APIs) to read user data from digital wallets and crypto exchanges and does not allow for the trading of assets.
StakeSeeker's Stake Hub is central to BTCS's growth strategy. The growth of both StakeSeeker's user base as well as the amount of staked cryptocurrencies by Delegators to Company-run validator nodes are critical to BTCS's growth strategy and success. StaaS provides a more accessible and cost-effective way for crypto asset holders to directly participate in blockchain networks' consensus mechanisms while maintaining custody of both their staked crypto assets and crypto rewards, thereby promoting the growth and adoption of blockchain technology.
Competition
The company's competition for its Digital Asset Platform is centered on the following areas:
Other crypto asset focused companies and node operators, such as Blockdaemon, Allnodes, Everstake, Staked (acquired by Kraken), Figment, P2P, Foundry, and Stakefish, that offer non-custodial crypto asset staking and run validator nodes; and
Other mobile applications, websites, niche aggregation sites, which offer similar analytic services, such as CoinTracker, Koinly, CoinLedger and Rotki.
History
The company was founded in 2014. It was formerly known as Bitcoin Shop, Inc. and changed its name to BTCS Inc. in 2015.
