Popular Danish esports organization Astralis made a big move recently. The group announced on April 6th they have applied to the OTCQX, the highest tier of over-the-counter (OTC) stock market there is in the US. Astralis is already trading on a stock market – however, it was the Nasdaq First North Growth Market based in Denmark, which severely limited their appeal.
Now they’ve requested certification for a dual listing. That means that they’ll be available in both environments. They haven’t been approved yet – it’ll take approximately 4 weeks to complete the process, but already this is one of the bigger esports business news items.
The value of Astralis could easily double within the first days of OTC trading in the US. So you should definitely add them on your esports stocks watch list.
While Astralis is a Danish organisation, their well-known brand has interested investors and partners all over the planet – and indeed, moving into the US market could easily prove to be a fantastic financial decision. Trading their stocks before was severely limited and usually required a broker and some paper pushing.
This time around, being able to interact with more different investors and potential partners via esports stocks and wanting to deepen their coffers a bit is part of what brought on this new move.
It’s worth noting that at the end of their first year being public, they posted a loss in the millions, but were satisfied despite that. Being the first esports company ever to go public like that, Astralis certainly took a risk – and more factors in than just pure revenue. After all, on the esports side of it, the group holds one of the most impressive CS:GO teams on the planet, and a franchised team in European League of Legends.
“We are pleased to potentially trade on the OTCQX Best Market as it will give our current and potential shareholders an additional and larger regulated platform from which they can conveniently trade our shares. From the company’s perspective, it provides added exposure to an expanding US market of esports investors. Trading on OTCQX will secure increased access for US institutional and retail investors looking to invest in our company and proven business model and it will provide an opportunity to be a part of Astralis Group’s continued development as an international leader in the growing, global esports industry.” Said the CEO of Astralis Group, Anders Horsholt.
The increase in esports organizations seeking interest into public trading is also perfectly timed. Over the past six months we’ve had amateur investors rock the boat with huge investments in Gamestop and Blackberry, sticking it to the “big man”. This same batch of young investors are also the lot that closely follows esports and gaming, on top of now dabbling in stock trades. Having premier esports organizations going public is certainly opening the potential for investors to stabilize their portfolios.
[cta id=2581 type=geo]Astralis is not alone in this idea either. Guild Esports – the British esports org, announced earlier this year that they would also be applying for an OTCQ certification – however instead of OTCQX, they applied to OTXQB. The idea behind it is the same – a chance to partner with and benefit from American fans and investors. They too already hold a listing elsewhere – in the London stock exchange.
Overall, if more and more esports brands and orgs move into the stock market, not only would they be able to secure significant funding, they would also be able to compete off the video game playing field.
Sure, watching stocks tick isn’t exactly as exciting as watching someone fail a flash on Banana (nor should the two be combined), but it certainly adds a new incentive to esports gambling, with a whole new meaning of the concept. For some after all, gambling on stocks is really just called trading!
Read next: The Best Mobile Gaming Stocks to Invest in Right Now
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