Petrochemical shipping company Robin Energy surges 90% on completion of first $5 million bitcoin buy

Robin Energy (ticker RBNE), an international energy transportation company based in Cyprus, has completed its initial $5 million bitcoin allocation, becoming the latest energy-related company to look to diversify its portfolio through crypto.

RBNE, the company’s Nasdaq-listed stock, was up well over 90% on Wednesday to hit an intraday high of $4.27 before paring some gains. For most of August, the stock traded flat around $1.87, give or take a penny or two, according to Google Finance.

On June 13, RBNE hit an all-time high of $14, though it is unclear why, as there was no press release published on that day. Three days later, on June 16, Robin announced it would raise $5.1 million through stock sales to institutional investors at $5.25 per share.

The firm is among hundreds of publicly traded companies that have entered the crypto market in recent months. Bitcoin and other crypto assets have long been appealing to energy-related companies due to their consumption requirements — for years, natural gas producers have mined bitcoin using flared gas, for instance, while, in reverse, crypto miners have in recent years expanded operations to provide additional computing services.

Digital asset treasuries, or DATs, are something of a different beast entirely and largely operate by issuing debt or equity to fund token purchases — offering financial leverage for investors and a hedge for business operations.

The first disclosed it would use bitcoin as a treasury asset in late July, beginning with a $5 million purchase.

"The above allocation comes as part of the newly adopted comprehensive Bitcoin treasury framework targeting up to 50% of its long-term cash reserves, with any potential purchases beyond the initial allocation to be deployed to Bitcoin through disciplined dollar-cost averaging," Robin said at the time.

According to the announcement, Robin’s allocation was made through Anchorage Digital Bank.

"We are pleased to have completed the allocation of $5 million to Bitcoin in accordance with our board-approved strategy. We believe in Bitcoin’s unique characteristics as a scarce digital asset and see it as an integral component of our long-term strategy to grow our Company further and drive shareholder value,” Petros Panagiotidis, Robin CEO, said in a statement. 

Robin Energy is an international ship-owning company that transports petrochemical gases and refined petroleum products globally. At publication time, the stock was up about 45% to $2.78.