NYSE-listed Turkish mobility company Marti will put 20% of its cash into Bitcoin

Marti Technologies (ticker MRT) will establish a corporate crypto treasury strategy that will initially hold approximately 20% of its cash reserves in Bitcoin. The company could increase its crypto holdings to 50% of its cash reserves and purchase other crypto assets such as Ethereum and Solana, according to a release.

"Our decision to allocate capital to crypto assets acknowledges our belief that Bitcoin and other digital assets have proven their ability to store value alongside hard currencies and gold over the last several years," CEO Oguz Alper Oktem stated in the release . "We believe this strategy represents a prudent approach to treasury management, particularly in the current economic environment which carries both inflationary and hard currency risks."

Founded in 2018, Marti says it is Turkey's leading mobility app, offering multiple transportation services to its riders, similar to Uber and Lyft. The company operates a ride-hailing service and operates a fleet of rental e-mopeds, e-bikes, and e-scooters.

The success of  corporate Bitcoin treasuries from Strategy and others has led to a surge in both BTC- and ETH-based treasuries , with altcoin treasuries like SOL starting to trickle in.

Marti said these digital assets are recognized as potential long-term stores of value and as a hedge against systemic financial risk. All digital assets will be custodied through a regulated, institutional-grade custodian, and will be held in compliance with applicable laws and industry best practices related to security, custody, and reporting.

Marti went public in 2023 via a special-purpose acquisition (SPAC) merger with Galata Acquisition Corp. The company has a market capitalization of around $185 million and trades for around $2.42 per share, according to Yahoo Finance.