The Smarter Web Company (SWC): What Happened in Autumn 2026 and How Its Shares Differ From Owning Bitcoin

The Smarter Web Company (ticker SWC) is a UK web design and digital marketing business that holds bitcoin as its main treasury asset. As of its 23 October 2026 announcement it held 2,850 bitcoin, bought at a net average of £81,837 each. This autumn it sold bitcoin to repay a convertible, then listed a 12% preferred share called MORE on the London Stock Exchange.

If you've been checking the SWC price, you'll have noticed the share and bitcoin don't move in lockstep. That gap is the whole story. For the wider picture of UK companies doing this, see our bitcoin treasury strategy guide. This piece is about SWC specifically.

What happened at The Smarter Web Company in September and October 2026?

In short: SWC trimmed its debt, sold some bitcoin, then raised £10 million through a new preferred share and started buying again. Its holdings fell from 2,878 bitcoin on 30 June to 2,747 on 30 September, then climbed to 2,850 by 23 October, according to its own RNS announcements.

Here's the sequence, all from company announcements:

• 23 July: SWC repaid its Smarter Convert instrument early, paying $11,698,540 by selling 177.89 bitcoin at about $65,762 each. That removed 7,718,551 potential new shares.
• 11 September: it announced plans for a non-voting preferred share, ticker MORE.
• 28 September: shareholders approved the plan, with over 99.8% of votes in favour.
• 29 September: the FCA approved the prospectus and the offer opened at £90 a share, targeting £15 million to £25 million.
• 12 October: the offer raised £10.0 million (£2.4 million institutional, £7.6 million retail), below the target range but above the £10 million minimum. About £4 million was earmarked for bitcoin.
• 14 October: MORE started trading on the Main Market.
• 15 October: SWC bought 83 bitcoin for £5,202,111, at £62,676 each.
• 23 October: it bought 20 more for £1,234,668, at £61,733 each, taking the total to 2,850.

The ordinary shares themselves moved to the London Stock Exchange's Main Market on 3 February 2026, having previously traded on Aquis.

How did the SWC share price move?

SWC doesn't publish a daily price in its RNS updates, but its at-the-market share sales give a rough guide. It sold shares at about £0.295 in July and £0.31 in early August, about £0.70 in September, and about £0.55 between 14 and 22 October. That's a big swing in a few months.

Treat those as averages from the company's own share sales, not closing prices. The pattern still tells you something useful: the share moved far more than bitcoin did over the same stretch. Bitcoin went from roughly £47,000 (SWC's 3 August buy) to roughly £62,000 (its October buys). The shares more than doubled and then gave a chunk back.

Photo: gren, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Is buying SWC shares the same as owning bitcoin?

No. When you buy SWC shares you own part of a company that owns bitcoin, plus a web design business, plus its debts and future share issues. The company itself says plainly that an investment in it is not an investment in bitcoin, directly or by proxy. You don't control any coins, and the share can trade well above or below the bitcoin it holds.

Here's how it compares with the alternatives a UK investor usually weighs:

	SWC ordinary shares	Bitcoin ETP (crypto ETN)	Bitcoin held directly
What you own	Shares in a company	A note tracking bitcoin's price	The bitcoin itself
Stocks and shares ISA?	Main Market shares are generally eligible; check your platform	Not for new buys since 6 April 2026 (Innovative Finance ISA only)	No
Premium or discount to bitcoin	Can be large either way	Usually close to the bitcoin value	None
Dilution risk	Yes, from new shares and warrants	No	No
Company and debt risk	Yes	Issuer risk	Exchange or self-custody risk
FSCS cover	No	No	No

The ISA row matters. Under the ISA (Amendment) Regulations 2026, crypto exchange traded notes count as qualifying investments for the Innovative Finance ISA from 6 April 2026, not for new purchases in a stocks and shares ISA. A Main Market-listed share like SWC is a different animal, which is partly why these companies appeal to ISA investors. Check your platform, though.

What is the premium to NAV, and why does it matter?

The premium is how much more you pay for the company than its bitcoin is worth. SWC reported a fully diluted EV-to-BTC ratio of 1.56x on 30 September 2026. Roughly speaking, the market valued the whole business at about £1.56 for every £1 of bitcoin it held, after counting debt and every share that could be issued.

A quick worked example using SWC's own figures. On 30 September it reported 671 net sats of bitcoin per fully diluted share (a sat is one hundred-millionth of a bitcoin). Buy 10,000 shares and your slice is about 6.71 million sats, or 0.0671 bitcoin. At SWC's 23 October purchase price of £61,733, that's around £4,140 of bitcoin. If those 10,000 shares cost £5,500 at about 55p, you're paying roughly a third more than the bitcoin underneath. (The sats figure is from 30 September, so it's an illustration, not today's exact number.)

Premiums can shrink fast. If the market will only pay £1 per £1 of bitcoin, the share can fall while bitcoin goes nowhere. An ETP holder doesn't carry that risk. Honestly, for most people the premium is the part they underestimate.

What are the main risks of SWC shares?

The biggest risks are bitcoin's price, the premium collapsing, dilution from new shares, and debt or preferred dividends that rank ahead of you. SWC's bitcoin was bought at a net average of £81,837, well above the £61,733 it paid on 23 October. On paper, the stack is worth less than it cost.

Figure (from SWC's 23 October RNS)	Amount
Bitcoin held	2,850
Net average cost per bitcoin	£81,837
Approximate total cost (2,850 x £81,837)	about £233.2 million
Value at the 23 October buy price (£61,733)	about £175.9 million

A few other points from the filings:

• Dilution. SWC raises money by selling new ordinary shares at the market. On 22 October it said 36,416,788 shares remained available under that facility, and its quarterly update listed 31,678,732 warrants exercisable at 2.5p, most held by chief executive Andrew Webley and his spouse.
• MORE ranks ahead of you. The preferred shares pay a variable dividend, initially 12% a year on £100, weekly, and have a liquidation preference over ordinary shares.
• Borrowing. SWC has a bitcoin-backed credit facility with Coinbase, which it said would fall to about £16 million after the MORE raise.
• Sales happen. SWC sold bitcoin in July to repay debt.
• No safety net. The company says it isn't authorised or regulated by the FCA and that investors aren't covered by the Financial Ombudsman Service or FSCS.

Frequently asked questions

How much bitcoin does The Smarter Web Company hold? 2,850 bitcoin as of its 23 October 2026 announcement, at a net average purchase price of £81,837. It had 2,747 on 30 September, after selling 177.89 bitcoin in July to repay a convertible instrument.

What is SWC's MORE preferred share? A sterling, non-voting perpetual preferred share listed on the LSE Main Market from 14 October 2026. It was issued at £90 and pays a variable dividend, initially 12% a year on £100, weekly, unless the board suspends it. It raised £10.0 million.

Can I hold SWC shares in an ISA? Shares listed on the London Stock Exchange's Main Market are generally eligible for a stocks and shares ISA, and SWC moved there on 3 February 2026. Availability depends on your platform, so check before buying.

Why doesn't the SWC share price track bitcoin exactly? Because you're buying a company, not bitcoin. The price reflects a premium or discount to its bitcoin, its debt, its web business and expected new shares. SWC reported an EV-to-BTC ratio of 1.56x at the end of September.

Is SWC safer than holding bitcoin directly? Not necessarily. You avoid managing keys, but you add company, debt, dilution and premium risk, and there's no FSCS or Ombudsman cover, per the company's own risk notice.

The practical next step

If SWC caught your eye, read its latest RNS announcements yourself and check the current premium before deciding anything. Compare it honestly with simpler routes, using our guides to bitcoin ETPs on the London Stock Exchange, crypto ETNs and ISA rules and self-custody of bitcoin. This isn't investment advice.