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A small Bristol web design company just did something no UK-listed firm has done before. The Smarter Web Company (LSE: SWC) received shareholder approval on September 28 to launch a new class of perpetual preferred shares explicitly backed by a corporate Bitcoin treasury, the first instrument of its kind listed on the London Stock Exchange.
The vote was about as close to unanimous as corporate governance gets: over 99.8% of shareholders approved the resolutions.
What the deal actually looks like
The new preferred shares will trade under the ticker MORE. The company is targeting a raise of between £15 million and £25 million, with a floor of £10 million, using the proceeds to expand its Bitcoin holdings. The shares will carry a cumulative variable-rate preferential dividend, meaning unpaid dividends stack up rather than disappear, and they sit above ordinary shares in the liquidation queue. They carry no voting rights.
The instrument is still contingent on Financial Conduct Authority approval and broader market conditions before it officially launches.
The company also cleared a significant piece of financial groundwork earlier this year. In June 2026, shareholders approved a £210 million share premium reduction that subsequently unlocked approximately £132.5 million in distributable reserves, giving the company the balance-sheet flexibility to make credible dividend commitments on the new preferred class.
The Bitcoin treasury behind the pitch
The Smarter Web Company currently holds approximately 2,878 BTC, which makes it the largest publicly disclosed Bitcoin treasury among UK-listed companies. That is a striking number for a firm whose core business is web design and digital marketing, but the company has been deliberately repositioning itself around a Bitcoin accumulation strategy it calls its “10-Year Plan.”
TD Cowen analysts appear to be paying attention. The firm raised its price target on SWC shares to £0.73 from £0.64 following the announcement, maintaining a Buy rating. That new target implies roughly 90% upside from where the stock was trading at the time of the note.
Why this matters beyond one small-cap firm
The immediate risk is execution. FCA approval is not guaranteed, the fundraising window has a minimum threshold of £10 million to clear, and Bitcoin’s price volatility means the economics of a variable-rate preferred dividend tied to a BTC treasury can shift quickly. Investors in MORE would be taking on a layered set of risks: credit risk on the company, Bitcoin price risk through the treasury, and liquidity risk on a relatively small LSE-listed instrument.
Disclosure: This article was edited by John Chen. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
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