MEI Pharma’s Cryptocurrency Investment Strategy
In mid-July, MEI Pharma, a company specializing in cancer therapeutics, unveiled plans for a substantial $100 million investment strategy using cryptocurrencies, as reported by Fortune. Notably, just days prior to this announcement, there was a dramatic surge in the company’s stock price, which nearly doubled, raising eyebrows given the lack of any formal updates reported to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission or through press releases. Furthermore, discussions surrounding this movement were scarce on social media platforms.
Possible Insider Trading Trends
MEI Pharma is not an isolated case; Fortune‘s investigations revealed that other smaller publicly traded companies have also exhibited similar stock price spikes before revealing their own cryptocurrency initiatives. This pattern suggests a possible trend of insider trading, as it appears that individuals within these companies may have been privy to the news ahead of time.
Company Responses
A spokesperson from MEI Pharma refrained from providing any comments when approached. Representatives from other companies, including Kindly MD, Empery Digital, Fundamental Global, and 180 Life Sciences Corp—each of which showed unusual market behavior linked to cryptocurrency investments—also did not respond to inquiries. Two additional companies, VivoPower and Sonnet BioTherapeutics, which experienced notable fluctuations in their stock prices around the same timeframe, similarly opted not to comment.
Beneficiaries of Stock Price Increases
Interestingly, the beneficiaries of these rapid price increases were often not ordinary retail investors. Instead, individuals closely associated with these firms, or external parties who had access to inside information, appeared to capitalize on the situation by trading ahead of the announcements. For example, SharpLink, a company managing an ETH treasury, saw its stock price surge from $3 to over $6 in just three days before its own announcement, again without any disclosures to the SEC or press announcements.
Concerns Over Information Leaks
The CEO of a different cryptocurrency fund noted that disclosing such news to numerous investors could lead to information leaks, complicating efforts to maintain confidentiality before official announcements are made.
