Earlier this month Bitcoin treasury firm ZOOZ Technique (Nasdaq: ZOOZ; TASE: ZOOZ) CEO Jordan Fried visited Israel for conferences with traders. Because the Israeli firm modified its discipline of exercise final summer season – from kinetic vitality to investing in Bitcoin – ZOOZ’s inventory has misplaced 84% and is buying and selling at a market cap of $87 million, which is even decrease than the worth of the Bitcoin it holds, bought at a median value larger than its present value.
Nevertheless, it’s tough to overlook Fried’s nice optimism, each on Bitcoin and ZOOZ’s technique. “The volatility within the value of Bitcoin is a characteristic, not a bug,” he tells “Globes.” “Each funding channel that institutional traders begin to undertake initially suffers from volatility. Once I began investing in Bitcoin in 2013, they instructed me I used to be loopy; I used to be the ‘black sheep’ of the household, they instructed me to not speak about it on Seder night time,” he laughs. “At this time, BlackRock and Constancy are issuing ETFs (exchange-traded funds) on Bitcoin, and lecturers’ and firefighters’ pension funds are invested immediately in Bitcoin.”
Basically, Fried sees Bitcoin as some of the vital innovations in human historical past: “Folks can ship cash to the opposite facet of the world with none middlemen in between,” he enthuses. “Bitcoin broke the monopoly of a state forex, and we’re beginning to see international locations adopting it as authorized tender.”
ZOOZ Technique, previously ZOOZ Energy, held its IPO on the Tel Aviv Inventory Alternate (TASE) in 2021 as an organization creating kinetic vitality storage know-how, and was later merged with a SPAC within the US however struggled on Wall Avenue. Final summer season, after the inventory plunged, Zooz started exploring strategic choices, and the method culminated within the determination to lift funding and turn into a Bitcoin treasury firm. Treasury corporations concentrate on buying and holding digital belongings, primarily cryptocurrencies, and prior to now yr the variety of these corporations has elevated and has been a outstanding pattern on Wall Avenue. The businesses present traders with publicity to cryptocurrencies.
Following his grandfather: “A love story with the State of Israel”
As a part of the transfer, Fried was appointed CEO, after having based and managed blockchain ventures, and even earlier than that, he had produced an exit from a cybersecurity startup he had based. His employment settlement consists of an annual wage of $1, together with blocked shares, a few of which can mature topic to a rise within the share value.
Till about two years in the past, Fried had neither dreamed nor deliberate to run a public firm in Tel Aviv, however October 7 led to a significant change for him. “My story with the State of Israel is a love story,” says Fried. He recounts that his grandfather, Yossi Dagan, immigrated to Israel from Germany in 1933, joined the Irgun as a youngster, and fought within the Struggle of Independence. Though he left Israel, his grandfather returned to assist every time conflict broke out: “He at all times left all the things and was keen to threat his life. On October 7, I knew that if he had been nonetheless alive, he would have gotten on the aircraft. I did it in his place.”
That very same day, Fried obtained a name from a buddy asking for assist chartering a aircraft for reservists who had been stranded in Los Angeles and wished to get to Israel. He flew to Los Angeles and determined to affix the flight to Israel, “despite the fact that I solely had denims and a T-shirt on, and my passport.” Throughout a refueling cease in Europe, he was interviewed by US TV channels, “and I cried like a child. ‘Loopy’ individuals are coming dwelling to conflict. That is my grandfather’s legacy.”
Fried later labored as a part of the Israel Mates of the IDF, which raised tens of tens of millions of {dollars} and helped – from buying tools for troopers, to meals, to treating troopers with post-traumatic stress dysfunction. “It was superb, however then I got here to the conclusion that I used to be 36 years outdated and nonetheless did not wish to be a full-time philanthropist,” he says. That is how he started enterprise initiatives in Israel. “I am fortunate – I bought a software program firm on the age of 26, I used to be in the correct place on the proper time. I thought of how I may assist, not simply with kindness.”
Till regulatory approval, simply purchase the share
Amongst different issues, Fried has based an organization that brings international employees to Israel from Asian international locations, and invested in personal corporations that he’s keen to reveal are primarily within the fields of defense-tech and vitality. “All of that is during the last 24 months. All of the sudden I regarded and stated, ‘Wow, you may make some huge cash in Israel.’ There are plenty of serial entrepreneurs right here, and that is how Silicon Valley was constructed. I additionally actually just like the capital market in Israel.” Sooner or later, he hopes to immigrate to Israel: “Earlier than, I might come right here as a vacationer, as we speak I’m welcomed like a brother. That is dwelling.”
What’s ZOOZ’s relative benefit over different funding corporations that put money into Bitcoin?
“The benefit stems from the truth that, sadly, Israelis have regulatory difficulties shopping for Bitcoin and bringing it to a checking account in Israel. It isn’t not possible – I attempted it myself, however Israeli banks will maintain the cash for 30-90 days till they approve it, and I do not blame them as a result of that is how US banks had been till a number of years in the past. Our resolution says: do not buy Bitcoin, await Israeli banks to fill the gaps. You will get publicity to Bitcoin by Zooz inventory, and you do not even should convert shekels to {dollars}. We expect each Israeli firm ought to take into consideration transferring a part of its stability sheet to Bitcoin.”
ZOOZ not too long ago revealed a method that features a number of parts, together with: optimizing conventional operations and lowering prices; enhancing transparency; and producing returns and strategic growth. Fried explains, “When you concentrate on Bitcoin, you often do not take a look at the whole monetary providers economic system round it. You’ll be able to borrow and lend and revenue from it. There are robust gamers who may, for instance, who may borrow from ZOOZ. We’re this and wish to be extra energetic in managing the asset, not simply holding it.”
On the corporate’s unique vitality exercise, he says that a number of choices are being thought of: “We’ve got lowered bills within the space. Previously, below the earlier administration, the route was in direction of the electrical car market and that was good when the batteries had been costly, however the value has come down. We expect that we are able to maybe direct the exercise in direction of the hyper-scalers (giant cloud suppliers comparable to Amazon and Microsoft).” Fried additionally doesn’t rule out the opportunity of spinning off the exercise right into a separate firm.
Undervaluation out there and a warning from Nasdaq
How do you clarify the low cost at which ZOOZ is buying and selling in contrast with its Bitcoin holdings?
“The market is undervaluing ZOOZ, and that is with out making an allowance for the money reserves. This week I began assembly with traders from Israel and telling them ZOOZ’s story, and the reactions had been very optimistic.”
Within the meantime, ZOOZ’s inventory has fallen beneath $1 and obtained a warning from Nasdaq for non-compliance with buying and selling guidelines. A potential technical resolution to that is to hold out a reverse cut up that might merge each few shares into one share. On the similar time, Zooz additionally has an accredited plan to purchase again as much as $50 million in shares.
In a broader perspective, Fried believes that Bitcoin is a part of a rustic’s nationwide safety. He believes that the forex needs to be seen within the context of the vitality required to provide it, together with wants comparable to computing, broadband and storage capabilities. In Israel, Bitcoin isn’t mined on a major scale as a result of the price of vitality is excessive.
“What worries me from a geopolitical perspective, additionally within the US however particularly with regard to Israel, is that they’re behind on the vitality challenge,” Fried emphasizes. “China has over 20 nuclear reactors, the US has two, and Israel has none in any respect. If there have been, the price of vitality wouldn’t be so excessive and there can be extra knowledge facilities right here (that are required for AI tasks), and we want AI to win on a world stage. We should push for the creation of recent and cheaper vitality, and I talked about it with Israeli officers. It’s nonetheless potential to shut the hole.”
Printed by Globes, Israel enterprise information – en.globes.co.il – on January 28, 2026.
© Copyright of Globes Writer Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2026.
