Crypto Coffee; or, Why a Struggling Spanish Cafe Chain Is Going All-In on Bitcoin

Let’s say you run a struggling coffee company. Sales are sluggish, revenue is down, and your share price has tanked since you went public a couple of years ago. What’s the solution? Traditionally, you would look for outside investment and streamline operations (that is, take on venture capital funding and lay off workers).

But we live in the 21st century, a glorious new era of opportunity, promise, and cryptocurrencies. Now, embattled brands can “launch a bitcoin strategy”, raising funds to purchase crypto assets which will then, hopefully, continue to appreciate. Doing so will “unlock the value of the company”, as one executive recently told Nikou Asgari in the Financial Times.

This is the route that Vanadi Coffee took. The small Spanish coffee chain faltered after going public in 2023, losing millions and closing multiple locations. But in June this year, the company announced that it was going all-in on crypto, raising money to buy over a billion dollars of bitcoin. 

It’s a very risky move, considering that bitcoin represents an unstable, highly volatile investment. But coffee is increasingly embracing crypto—Compass Coffee has been leaning into it heavily in recent years—and costs continue to rise alongside tariffs and other challenges. If Vanadi’s gamble pays off, other floundering companies may see the appeal of a crypto pivot.