MEI Pharma Establishes $100M Litecoin Reserve and Appoints Charlie Lee to Board

MEI Pharma has invested $100 million in Litecoin (LTC), making it the first publicly traded U.S. corporation to use the cryptocurrency as its main treasury reserve asset. This is a big step forward for both traditional pharmaceuticals and digital finance. The purchase, which took place between July 30 and August 4, included 929,548 LTC at an average price of $107.58 per coin. With Litecoin now trading around $124, MEI’s holdings have already appreciated to approximately $115 million.

The strategic purchase was financed through a $100 million private placement closed last month. The round was led by Litecoin creator Charlie Lee and crypto trading firm GSR, both of whom now hold influential roles in MEI’s new crypto-forward strategy. Lee has officially joined MEI’s board of directors, replacing Taheer Datoo, while GSR will manage the company's crypto treasury.

Additional investors in the round included the Litecoin Foundation, ParaFi, Hivemind, Primitive Ventures, RLH Capital, and Delta Blockchain Fund. Legal counsel was provided by Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP for MEI Pharma, while Lucosky Brookman LLP represented the placement agent, Titan Partners Group.

Important Reads: Litecoin (LTC) Price Analysis: Key Support at $105

According to MEI, Litecoin was chosen for its reliability, boasting 13 years of uninterrupted uptime, along with low transaction fees, fast settlement times, and growing utility across mainstream platforms such as PayPal, BitPay, and Robinhood. “Litecoin has long embodied sound, scalable, and decentralized money. MEI’s adoption of Litecoin as a reserve asset marks an institutional acknowledgement of its role in global finance,” said Charlie Lee.

Although MEI hinted at potential future ventures in Litecoin mining or related infrastructure, the company confirmed that its primary pharmaceutical operations, including ongoing development of its experimental cancer treatment voruciclib, will continue unaffected.

This bold treasury turn comes as momentum builds for a potential Litecoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas recently included Litecoin in a shortlist of cryptocurrencies with high ETF approval odds, citing its six-month track record of futures trading on Coinbase’s derivatives platform. Analysts say there is an 85% or better probability that the ETF will be approved, which means that Litecoin is more like a commodity than a security. This makes it easier to deal with U.S. regulations.

According to the prediction platform Polymarket, the chance of Litecoin ETF approval by the end of 2025 has risen to 81%, which makes investors even more hopeful.

The news has quickly affected the Litecoin market. Prices were up more than 6% in the last 24 hours, reaching $123.69 at one point. Analysts think there is still opportunity for development, and well-known crypto chartist Rain thinks it will rise to $150. Crypto Dias, another analyst, pointed out that this pattern is similar to one from 2020 that came before a fivefold rise. This could mean that a new all-time high is on the way. Litecoin's last peak was in May 2021, when it was worth $410.26. It is now worth over 70% less than that. Litecoin could be ready for a big comeback now that MEI Pharma has backed it and ETF interest is growing.