Bitcoin Is Luring More Companies and Their Cash

A couple of weeks after the presidential election, Joe Davy, chief executive of the marketing firm Banzai, sent an email to the company’s board of directors: He wanted Banzai to start buying Bitcoin.On the face of it, a plunge into the freewheeling world of cryptocurrencies was a strange move for Banzai, a Nasdaq-listed company known for its corporate webinar product.But the election of Donald J.

Trump, who embraced Bitcoin on the campaign trail, had galvanized the crypto industry and sent prices skyrocketing.Mr.

Davy argued that the investment would protect the company’s finances in case inflation devalued the U.S.dollar, a common but widely contested claim made by crypto enthusiasts.On Nov.

26, Banzai announced that it would spend up to 10 percent of the funds it held in its corporate treasury on Bitcoin.(The company reported $4.3 million in cash in its latest quarterly report.) “It ended up being a pretty straightforward conversation,” Mr.

Davy said in an interview.“It makes sense to own this thing.”As the price of Bitcoin has soared, a small but growing number of businesses that have nothing to do with crypto — like Banzai — have started to build up stockpiles, linking their financial performance, at least in part, to volatile digital currency markets.The investments are a sharp pivot away from the cautious approach of the traditional corporate treasury department, whose focus is typically safeguarding cash rather than risking it for a higher return.

Typical reserve assets include steady, predictable securities like U.S.government bonds and money market funds.“I cannot understand how a risk-averse board could justify an investment in digital assets, given we know they swing quite significantly,” said Naresh Agarwal, an associate director at the Association of Corporate Treasurers, a trade organization.

“It is quite an opaque market.”...