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1. Smarter Web preferred shares begin trading in London
The Smarter Web Company, a Bristol-based firm that holds Bitcoin (BTC) as its core treasury asset, saw its new MORE preferred shares begin trading on the London Stock Exchange Main Market on October 14, 2026. The perpetual, sterling-denominated security carries an initial 12% annual dividend paid weekly, and it was sold at £90 per share against a £100 liquidation preference. The offering raised at least £10 million before costs.
The launch gives the company a second listed instrument alongside its ordinary shares, which trade under the ticker SWC. MORE is aimed at investors who want regular income rather than exposure to the price of the underlying coin alone.
The company describes the product as the first sterling-denominated perpetual preferred share backed by a corporate Bitcoin treasury in the United Kingdom, and it says weekly payouts are a first among companies listed in London. Both descriptions are the company's own, and neither has been independently confirmed.
2. What are perpetual preferred shares?
Preferred shares are a hybrid between debt and equity. They usually pay a fixed or formula-based dividend, and in a liquidation they rank ahead of ordinary shareholders when assets are distributed. Holders do not stand in the same position as lenders, however: a bondholder has a contractual claim to interest and principal, while a preferred shareholder depends on the company's decision and capacity to pay.
The word perpetual means the security has no maturity date. Investors are not promised repayment on any particular day. Their return comes from the dividends they collect and from whatever price the shares fetch when they sell on the open market. That makes the stability of the issuer's cash generation, and the market's confidence in it, central to how the shares behave.
The £100 liquidation preference is the amount holders are entitled to rank for ahead of common shareholders if the company is wound up. Because the IPO price of £90 sits below that figure, buyers at the offer price effectively enter at a discount to the reference amount on which the dividend is calculated.
3. How high is the dividend yield?
The initial dividend rate of 12% is measured against the £100 reference amount, not the £90 issue price. For an investor who bought at £90, the running yield is therefore about 13.33%, a result of dividing the 12 pounds of annual dividend per share by the 90 pounds paid.
The first payment has been set at £0.2301 per share. Payments are weekly, which is unusual in a market where most income-oriented shares in the United Kingdom pay quarterly or twice a year. For investors who budget around regular cash flow, a weekly schedule shortens the gap between payments, although the total annual amount is what ultimately matters for return.
The company calls the 12% rate initial, a word that signals it is not guaranteed to stay fixed. Anyone assessing the yield should treat it as the starting point of a variable arrangement and not as a permanent promise. A running yield above 13% in sterling markets is high by any conventional benchmark, which is itself a reminder that the market usually demands such a return as compensation for risk.
4. How much did the offering raise and where will it go?
The IPO raised a minimum of £10 million. After costs, net proceeds come to roughly £8.35 million. About £4 million of that amount is earmarked for buying additional Bitcoin, which ties the new security directly to the company's treasury strategy.
The remaining net proceeds, according to the company's plan, are not all directed to coin purchases, which means the offering does two jobs at once. It adds to the Bitcoin stack, and it creates a funding stream whose cost is the weekly dividend the company has now committed to pay. Investors should view the raise as the start of an ongoing obligation, not a one-time injection of capital.
For a company whose ordinary equity price tracks the market's view of Bitcoin, a separate instrument that appeals to income buyers broadens the pool of people willing to finance the strategy. Instead of relying only on issuing ordinary shares to acquire coins, the company can now tap a different kind of investor.
5. What does the company hold in Bitcoin?
As of September 30, 2026, The Smarter Web Company held about 2,747 BTC. The net average cost of that position was £82,562 per coin. These figures are the baseline against which the effect of the new raise can be measured, since the proceeds earmarked for Bitcoin should lift the holding when they are deployed.
The company adopted a formal Bitcoin treasury policy in 2025, and accumulating the asset has since become the center of its strategy. Treasury companies of this type hold digital assets on their balance sheet in place of, or in addition to, cash, and they raise capital in the public markets to expand the holding. The model gives shareholders indirect exposure to the coin through a listed equity.
An average cost of £82,562 matters because it determines how the value of the holding compares with what the company paid. If the market price of Bitcoin sits above that figure, the position shows a gain; if it falls below, the balance sheet shows a loss. Since the preferred dividend must be paid regardless, the relationship between the holding and the obligation is the key risk to monitor.
6. Which approvals preceded the listing?
Shareholders backed the issuance by a wide margin. More than 99.8% of votes cast on September 28, 2026 favored it. The following day, September 29, the Financial Conduct Authority, the UK's financial markets regulator, approved the prospectus, which is the formal document describing the offering and its risks.
Trading began roughly two weeks after that approval, on October 14. The sequence of a shareholder vote, a regulatory sign-off on the prospectus and then an exchange admission is the standard route for a Main Market listing of a new class of shares, and it was completed on a compressed timetable.
The near-unanimous vote shows that existing owners were comfortable with the company layering a senior-ranking security above their own shares. That is a meaningful concession, since preferred holders get paid before ordinary shareholders and rank ahead of them in a wind-up.
7. What risks do investors face?
The first risk is the rate itself. Because the 12% figure is described as initial, it may change, and the dividend is not the same as the fixed coupon on a bond. The second is the absence of a maturity date: with no scheduled repayment, holders rely on the company's continuing ability to fund its weekly payments for as long as they own the security.
The third risk is concentration. The treasury is built around Bitcoin, an asset known for sharp price swings, and the company's capacity to meet dividends is therefore connected to a volatile market. A prolonged fall in the coin's price could pressure the balance sheet at the same moment that investors question whether the payout is sustainable.
Finally, the market price of the preferred shares can move away from the £90 issue price and the £100 liquidation preference. Investors who sell before any redemption, if one ever occurs, would receive whatever buyers are willing to pay at the time, which may be higher or lower than what they originally spent.
8. Why do Bitcoin treasury companies issue preferred shares?
A company that wants to hold more Bitcoin must find the money somewhere. Selling ordinary shares dilutes existing owners, borrowing adds debt with fixed repayment dates, and retained cash is limited. A perpetual preferred share sits between those options: it does not mature, so there is no repayment date to refinance, yet it does not hand voting control to new investors in the way ordinary equity does.
In exchange, the issuer accepts a standing commitment to pay a dividend, and that cost is typically higher than what a conventional lender would charge. The 12% initial rate is the price the company is paying for flexible, permanent capital. Whether the arrangement is cheap or expensive depends on how the coin it buys performs relative to that cost over time.
For buyers, the appeal is different. An investor who wants a regular payout from a company with Bitcoin on its balance sheet, but who does not want to rely on the share price rising, can use a preferred security as a way to get paid first. The trade-off is that the upside is limited to the dividend and any price recovery toward the £100 reference amount.
9. What should investors watch next?
The first test is whether the £0.2301 per-share payment arrives on schedule, and whether the weekly payments then continue without interruption. A reliable start would support the company's claim that the structure can deliver steady income.
The second is how the shares trade relative to the £90 issue price and the £100 liquidation preference. A price that settles near or above the issue level would indicate demand for the yield, while a slide below it would suggest investors want a larger premium for the risk.
The third is the company's disclosure of its holdings. Updates to the 2,747 BTC figure and the £82,562 average cost will show how the proceeds are being deployed and how the treasury is evolving. Together, those data points will indicate whether a Bitcoin-backed income security can find a lasting place on the London market.