Adam Back, CEO of Bitcoin infrastructure company Blockstream and the British cryptographer whose Hashcash proof-of-work system is directly cited in Satoshi Nakamoto's original Bitcoin whitepaper, has fully subscribed a €7.6 million (roughly $8.8 million) private placement in Capital B, the French publicly listed bitcoin treasury company formerly known as The Blockchain Group. Back was also among the first people Nakamoto contacted when drafting the whitepaper in 2008.

The transaction, announced September 2, 2026, is Back's third major capital injection into the Puteaux-based firm this year and pushes the company toward a target of 3,521 BTC on its balance sheet.

---

Capital B (ticker: ALCPB) holds 3,145 BTC as of August 17, 2026, valued at approximately $241 million at that date's prices. Its total cost basis stands at $329.42 million, and the company currently carries a market capitalization of around $121 million. That gap is the most important figure for anyone evaluating the stock: the company trades at roughly 0.52 times its net asset value in bitcoin (a ratio practitioners call mNAV, or market-to-NAV), meaning the market is currently pricing in roughly half the fair value of the coins it actually owns.

In comparison, analysts note that Strategy Inc. (the US firm formerly known as MicroStrategy and the originator of this corporate playbook) has historically traded at a premium above its BTC holdings in American equity markets.

---

Back's accumulation through 2026 has been systematic. He made a personal €1.1 million investment in May, then joined a larger €21 million combined round in August alongside French asset manager TOBAM, which took a 4.20% stake. After those transactions, Back held 13.43% personally and an additional 14.42% through Blockstream Capital Partners. The September placement, subscribed by Back alone, extends that position further.

He told CoinDesk in April 2026 that "institutional money is coming for bitcoin, but it moves slower than you think," a view that appears to inform his own concentrated bets on companies positioned ahead of that wave.

---

Capital B adopted the bitcoin treasury model in November 2024, making it the first publicly listed European company to formally follow the Strategy template of issuing equity to fund bitcoin purchases. It rebranded from The Blockchain Group in July 2025.

It now trades on two exchanges: its home market of Euronext Growth Paris, and Cboe Europe, where it listed on August 5, 2026, with trading volume doubling within two hours of the opening bell.

A 10-for-1 reverse stock split takes effect September 8, reducing outstanding shares from roughly 300.6 million to approximately 30 million; per-share figures will change materially on that date. The company has described the consolidation as a step to support institutional development and open shares to a broader universe of investors.

Investors should also note that Capital B has outstanding warrants that, if fully exercised, could bring in more than €100 million in additional capital, with a corresponding dilutive effect on per-share bitcoin metrics.

---

The longer-term targets are ambitious. Capital B has publicly stated goals of 15,000 BTC by end-2027 and 210,000 BTC by 2033, which would represent about 1 percent of Bitcoin's total fixed supply of 21 million coins. Reaching the 2027 target would require roughly a fivefold increase from the company's pre-raise holdings of 3,145 BTC.

The company's year-to-date BTC yield, a metric measuring bitcoin per share growth, sits at 2.14 percent.

For context, 174 publicly listed companies now collectively hold more than 1.18 million BTC worldwide, representing over 6 percent of Bitcoin's total fixed supply of 21 million coins, according to data compiled by Spaziocrypto. Capital B ranks 26th among those companies globally, according to BitcoinTreasuries.net.

---

Capital B sits inside a wider European cohort of corporate bitcoin holders that includes Bitcoin Group SE in Germany (12,387 BTC, the largest on the continent), The Smarter Web Company in the UK (around 2,440 BTC), and H100 Group in Sweden, which crossed 1,000 BTC in 2026. Seetee in Norway holds approximately 1,170 BTC. Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo has taken a different approach, gaining bitcoin exposure through ETF holdings rather than direct treasury purchases.

Outside Europe, Africa is developing its own version of this trend, though the underlying rationale is markedly different. Africa Bitcoin Corporation, listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and formerly known as Altvest Capital, is the continent's first publicly listed company to formally adopt bitcoin as a reserve asset. It is targeting a $210 million fundraise to build a bitcoin reserve.

Its chairman, Stafford Masie, has been direct about the motivation: "In Africa, when financial services don't work, people die. We live that reality."

The company's case for bitcoin is less about outperforming equity benchmarks and more about hedging against currency collapse and unreliable banking infrastructure.

Sub-Saharan Africa received more than $205 billion in on-chain crypto value in the year ending June 2025, a 52 percent increase year over year, making the region the world's third-largest crypto market by on-chain volume.

Africa Bitcoin Corp also trades below 1 times its mNAV, mirroring Capital B's structural discount. That parallel suggests the premium Strategy commands in US markets has not yet transferred to less liquid exchanges.

Interest in the publicly listed treasury model is also emerging across Asia. In Southeast Asia, Sora Ventures is leading an effort to transform DV8 Public Company in Thailand into the region's first publicly listed bitcoin treasury company. The Capital B mNAV discount has drawn attention from institutional investors in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh as well, where direct bitcoin ownership remains legally ambiguous, making exposure through listed treasury vehicles an appealing alternative structure.

Whether Capital B's Cboe Europe listing, its upcoming share consolidation, and Back's continued involvement can close that gap will be worth watching. If it does, the template becomes significantly more replicable for publicly listed companies in markets where inflation hedging carries urgent practical weight rather than just portfolio theory.

---

Verse Press has reached out to Capital B's investor relations team for comment. This article will be updated if a response is received.