TD Cowen just raised its target on The Smarter Web Company by 14 percent — and the reasoning is a window into where Bitcoin treasury financing is heading next
TD Cowen has raised its price target for The Smarter Web Company to 0.73 pounds (about 0.99 USD) from 0.64 pounds (about 0.87 USD), keeping its Buy rating, after the London-listed Bitcoin treasury firm proposed a new perpetual preferred-share offering. The note, led by analyst Lance Vitanza and sent to clients on Monday, argues the planned MORE preferred shares could provide another source of long-term capital and expand the financing options available to the company.
The stakes are visible in the arithmetic. Smarter Web shares traded at 0.385 pounds (about 0.52 USD) on Monday, up 1.32 percent from Friday’s 0.38-pound close, based on London Stock Exchange data. The revised 0.73-pound target represents roughly 90 percent upside from Monday’s trading level — a striking call for a stock that has already lived through the full treasury-company boom-and-correction cycle.
Reversing part of the July cut
The increase partially reverses TD Cowen’s July adjustment, when the bank cut its target from 1 pound to 0.64 pounds after updating its Bitcoin forecasts and treasury assumptions. That earlier reduction reflected the broader repricing of Bitcoin treasury companies as BTC fell from its highs. The fresh upgrade signals that, in TD Cowen’s view, the financing story has again moved ahead of the macro drag.
The valuation followed Smarter Web’s September 11 announcement that it is considering an initial public offering of a new class of perpetual preferred shares under the reserved ticker MORE. TD Cowen framed the structure as another route to long-duration capital alongside the tools already available to the Bitcoin treasury operation. “More broadly, we view the initiative as evidence of increasing sophistication across the bitcoin treasury ecosystem as issuers explore preferred equity, secured credit facilities, convertible securities, and other forms of structured capital,” the analysts wrote.
How the MORE structure works
Smarter Web plans to seek between 15 million and 25 million pounds in gross proceeds (roughly 20 to 34 million USD) through the possible offering, with a minimum 10-million-pound fundraising condition attached to the IPO. Admission remains dependent on other requirements, including shareholder approval and Financial Conduct Authority approval of a prospectus.
The preferred shares are expected to carry a cumulative variable-rate preferential dividend paid weekly — a cadence that mirrors the always-on nature of crypto-market funding. Holders would receive a liquidation preference, while the company retains redemption rights. MORE shares would not carry voting rights at general meetings, preserving ordinary shareholders’ control while tapping a different pool of yield-focused capital.
A general meeting has been scheduled for September 28, when ordinary shareholders vote on the changes needed to create the new preferred-share class. If the remaining conditions are met, the securities are intended for admission to the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange.
The Strategy precedent
The proposal follows a clear template. Strategy has built several preferred-stock products around its Bitcoin financing model, and Strive has used preferred equity as part of its own treasury funding structure. Strategy’s STRC preferred stock was listed by Binance in July after the company expanded its use of the security for funding and dividend-related capital management. Bitfinex Securities later listed tokenized treasury products linked to several public Bitcoin holders, including one providing economic exposure to Strategy’s STRC preferred shares. Smarter Web is essentially importing a playbook proven at scale in the United States into the London market.
Yield performance despite the drag
TD Cowen’s revised target also reflects the company’s treasury performance. Smarter Web reported Bitcoin Yield of approximately 11.5 percent for the year through September 2 — and TD Cowen noted the figure came despite an approximately 420-basis-point drag caused by the July 23 early repayment of the company’s TOBAM-backed Smarter Convert instrument. The company sold 177.89 BTC to retire that financing, a deleveraging move that trimmed holdings but removed a costly obligation.
That context matters for evaluating the MORE proposal: a company that just cleaned up its balance sheet is now reaching for cheaper, longer-duration, non-dilutive-ish capital. With Bitcoin trading around 78,400 USD on Monday, up roughly 1.6 percent over 24 hours ahead of this week’s Federal Reserve decision, treasury firms are recalibrating their funding stacks for whatever the rate path brings.
The bull case embedded in the 0.73-pound target is straightforward: preferred equity that pays weekly, carries no voting rights, and diversifies funding sources makes the treasury machine more durable across cycles. The bear case is equally plain — 90 percent upside math only works if BTC cooperates, and preferred dividends become a fixed claim on a volatile asset base if it does not. Either way, the MORE offering is another sign that Bitcoin treasury companies are converging on the structured-finance toolkit of traditional corporate issuers, and London is becoming a live venue for that experiment.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
cutting the target to 0.64 in july then slapping a 90 percent premium on it two months later is some world class whiplash. analysts just chase the financing headline
went from 1 pound to 0.64 and now this. cant make it up lmao
the july cut tracked the btc drawdown, this bump tracks the preferred plan. either way analysts end up levered to whatever the last headline was
the july cut tracked the btc drawdown too, sellside lags in both directions. the pref terms matter way more than whatever target vitanza pins
td cowen slapping a target 90 percent above market on MORE because of the preferred share plan is wild. this is the mstr playbook with a new wrapper
its basically permanent capital without selling the underlying btc. the preferred coupon is just the cost of carrying the stack
right, basically the mstr ATM playbook but with prefs. question is who buys a perpetual coupon on a btc treasury if we get another bear leg
whoever buys that perpetual coupon is underwriting vitanza conviction more than the balance sheet. still, more financing rails for the stack is net good
90 percent above market and retail still treats MORE like a joke. the financing filings say otherwise
retail treating MORE like a joke is why the pref yield will actually price rich. indifference is carry
a perpetual preferred on a btc treasury at 0.385 pounds spot. td cowen is basically underwriting the carry trade, hope the coupon survives a 40 percent drawdown
The preferred share structure is genuinely clever if it works. Fixed income on top of BTC exposure without diluting the common stack. Risk is nobody prices the prefs correctly in a drawdown.
every preferred issuance means more btc absorbed off the market. simple as