Nilam Resources, a micro-cap company that touted plans this week to acquire $1.7 billion worth of Bitcoin (BTC), has been flagged as a “public interest concern” amid a meteoric 1,500% share price surge on Tuesday.
OTC Markets Group, the firm that runs OTC Pink, a platform for over-the-counter stock trading, currently labels Nilam Resources (NILA) as “Caveat Emptor” — a designation it hands down to companies it deems worthy of “buyer beware.”
“OTC Markets Group has determined that there is a public interest concern associated with the company, which may include a spam campaign, questionable stock promotion, known investigation of fraudulent activity committed by the company or insiders, regulatory suspensions, or disruptive corporate actions,” the firm explains in its label glossary.
The OTC listing for NILA also shows it has been deemed a “Shell Risk” — a label given to companies it thinks is likely a shell company based on its annual financial data and other income-related metrics.
On March 25, Nilam Resources, an investment holding company, announced it had entered into a Letter of Intent to acquire a company that plans to hold 24,800 Bitcoin.
Nilam Resources claimed the deal had been months in the making. It plans to issue a newly authorized “preferred stock” in exchange for the Bitcoin, which will be at a “discounted rate relative to current market prices.”
A day later, share prices soared, reaching a new all-time high of 33 cents per share, up 1700% from 1.8 cents last week. The company’s current market cap currently stands at $280 million, according to OTCMarkets.
However, many crypto-natives aren’t convinced the firm will be able to follow through with its ambitious plan, with some suggesting the announcement is some kind of “marketing stunt.”
“Stunt of a dying penny stock”
Bitcoin analyst and editor of Adamant Research, Tuur Demeester, said he removed his initial tweet sharing Nilam’s announcement on X after “a commenter pointed out that it’s indeed a stunt from a dying penny stock.”
Quinten Francois, a crypto YouTuber and co-founder of Web3 company WhereAt Social also accused the filing of being a “marketing stunt” — common amongst failing small-cap stocks.
Dylan LeClair, director of market intelligence at digital asset fund UTXO Management also shared doubts, noting the plan would only work if there was legitimate demand for the equity sale.
“A letter of intent is one thing, actually executing is another.”
“Likely flops and is for PR purposes,” he added.
If Nilam is successful, the company will hold more Bitcoin than any other publicly listed company in the United States, except for MicroStrategy.
Related: MicroStrategy sells another $604M of notes to buy 9K Bitcoin
That would include beating Elon Musk’s Tesla and major Bitcoin miners such as Riot Blockchain, Hut 8 Corp, and Marathon Digital Holdings, according to data from BitcoinTreasuries.
Former CEO calls it a “pump and dump”
Former Nilam Resources CEO Ron McIntyre has also reportedly cried foul over the announcement, telling Protos that the press release was issued without his review and that he didn’t have detailed knowledge of the deal.
Asked why he resigned from his position, McIntyre reportedly replied:
“Just look at the chart — it’s a classic pump and dump.”
“There will be a FINRA investigation into Nilam Resources,” he added.
Nila Resources describes itself as an investment holding company. In November last year, it announced it would be pivoting from health and wellness investments to “frontier tech” including medtech, fintech, and climate tech.
It followed up just a day later with an announcement it had acquired TechyTrade, a fintech technology provider.
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