MEI Pharma Chooses Not Bitcoin, Not Ethereum, But Litecoin As Treasury Asset

Author: Murtuza J Merchant | August 05, 2025 10:38am

San Diego-based MEI Pharma (NASDAQ:MEIP) has acquired 929,548 Litecoin (CRYPTO: LTC) tokens, becoming the first U.S.-listed public company to adopt Litecoin as its primary treasury reserve asset.

What Happened: The acquisition, valued at approximately $110.4 million as of Aug. 4, marks the launch of a $100 million institutional treasury strategy in collaboration with crypto market maker GSR and Litecoin creator Charlie Lee.

The company said it purchased the LTC tokens at an average price of $107.58, positioning the crypto asset as a strategic alternative to traditional reserve holdings.

The move follows a broader trend of public firms exploring digital assets as part of long-term capital diversification.

“Litecoin has long embodied sound, scalable, and decentralized money,” said Charlie Lee, who also sits on MEI’s board. "By initiating this strategy, MEI is taking a clear, institutional step forward that recognizes Litecoin's role as both a reserve asset and an integral part of global financial systems."

MEI's treasury model is being guided by GSR, a leading crypto investment and trading firm, which will advise on market structure, governance, and execution.

Also Read: Coinbase, Circle, Metaplanet Stocks Tumble: What’s Driving The Decline?

Why Litecoin?

The firm cited several reasons behind its decision:

• 13+ years of uptime: Litecoin remains one of the most reliable blockchains in terms of network availability.
• Low fees and fast settlements: Ideal for treasury and operational use cases.
• Ecosystem adoption: Litecoin is already integrated into platforms like PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL), BitPay, Venmo, and Robinhood (NASDAQ:HOOD), offering significant merchant and user traction.

MEI Pharma's move follows in the footsteps of other publicly traded firms holding crypto in treasury, though this is the first such bet on Litecoin.

• Strategy holds 628,791 Bitcoin ($46.8 billion as of recent filings).
• Tesla holds 11,509 Bitcoin, representing 0.055% of the total Bitcoin supply.
• Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) holds 11,776 Bitcoin and CleanSpark (NASDAQ:CLSK) controls 12,608 Bitcoin, or about 0.060% of the total supply.
• Galaxy Digital owns 12,830 Bitcoin, equal to 0.061% of the total supply.
• Investment firm Metaplanet (OTC:MTPLF) holds 17,595 Bitcoin, worth 0.084% of the global supply.
• Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. (NASDAQ:DJT) owns 18,430 Bitcoin.

Unlike these companies, MEI is the first to exclusively adopt LTC as a primary reserve asset, a notable move given Litecoin's reputation for reliability but generally lower profile in corporate circles compared to BTC or (CRYPTO: ETH).

MEI indicated that further changes to its corporate identity are forthcoming, signaling a broader pivot towards fintech and possibly even Litecoin mining.

Despite this, the company emphasized its continued focus on its drug candidate pipeline, including voruciclib, a CDK9 inhibitor currently in pre-clinical stages.

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