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Original-Research: Advanced Blockchain AG - from GBC AG

18.11.2025 / 12:00 CET/CEST

Dissemination of a Research, transmitted by EQS News - a service of EQS

Group.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this research.

The

result of this research does not constitute investment advice or an

invitation to conclude certain stock exchange transactions.

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Classification of GBC AG to Advanced Blockchain AG

Company Name: Advanced Blockchain AG

ISIN: DE000A0M93V6

Reason for the research: Research Report (Note)

Recommendation: Buy

Target price: 3.79 EUR

Target price on sight of: 31.12.2026

Last rating change:

Analyst: Matthias Greiffenberger, Cosmin Filker

Advanced Blockchain 2.0

Advanced Blockchain AG recently presented its new strategy paper on ABAG

2.0. The proposed strategic realignment of Advanced Blockchain AG aims to

transform the previously highly opportunistic and incubation-driven business

model into a predictable, capital market-ready, and multi-diversified

platform model. The starting point is a self-critical analysis of the ABAG

1.0 phase, in which rapid growth, a large number of companies, and a high

proportion of illiquid, partly token-based commitments had led to a level of

complexity that could no longer be managed with a very small core team. In

addition, from an investor's perspective, this phase was burdened by issues

such as insufficient transparency, delayed or cumbersome reporting, and

excessive dependence on market windows, i.e., times when tokens or

investments could actually be liquidated. The new strategy addresses

precisely these issues and aims to improve earnings, balance sheet quality,

and governance simultaneously.

At the heart of the strategic planning is the development of a clearly

structured platform architecture with five distinct but closely interlinked

pillars. The first and most visible pillar is the treasury orientation. It

is intended to create a balance sheet basis based on a strategic Bitcoin

reserve, supplemented by a selective Ethereum component. This reserve

fulfills a dual function. On the one hand, it creates an on-chain verifiable

asset that can be communicated to investors in a transparent and credible

manner. In addition to Bitcoin, other tokens can also be used as verifiable

reserves. Second, ABAG acts as a publicly-traded proxy for institutional

investors who are not allowed to invest directly in spot Bitcoin due to

regulatory, tax, or custody restrictions. The company is thus addressing a

market segment that has been underserved in Europe to date and positioning

itself in an emerging niche in which only a few publicly-traded 'Bitcoin

reserve' companies are currently active. At the same time, this structure

opens up the possibility of issuing capital market-oriented instruments such

as low-interest convertible bonds and reinvesting the funds raised in this

way back into the reserve. The plan describes this mechanism as a flywheel

effect: more Bitcoin leads to greater investor interest and a higher implied

company value. The increased value improves the issuance conditions,

allowing additional reserves to be built up. The treasury strategy is

flanked by a regime-based control model that divides market phases into

bullish, sideways, and bearish scenarios and provides defined allocation and

hedging measures for each phase. This framework primarily serves to reduce

risk. Beyond the simplified presentation in the strategy paper, the company

is working on an expanded internal model with more refined sub-regimes and

automated signal thresholds, which will undergo comprehensive backtesting

prior to operational implementation. The aim is to avoid having to liquidate

holdings even in periods of weakness, but rather to generate ongoing income

through structured instruments such as covered calls or conservative lending

approaches, thereby smoothing the volatility of treasury results.

The second pillar is the investment platform. In the future, the investment

arm will focus on token-based investments, both liquid tokens and SAFT

structures. Traditional equity investments will only be made in exceptional

cases ('edge cases'). Among other things, DePIN and robotics-related

infrastructures, the interface between artificial intelligence and

blockchain, tokenized real-world assets, and interoperability and

infrastructure layers are mentioned. A characteristic feature here is the

preference for tokens and SAFT structures over traditional equity, as these

generally allow for a faster return on capital and thus reduce portfolio

risk. In the medium to long term, the plan is to launch vertical special

funds. This would allow ABAG to decouple part of its value creation from its

own balance sheet risk and establish management fees as a recurring source

of income. For a small cap in the blockchain segment, this would be a

significantly more mature income mix than before.

The third pillar concerns innovation. The company recognizes that its

previous form of incubation, with high upfront costs, a large developer

base, and long amortization periods, is not financially sustainable in a

volatile market. Instead, access to innovation is to be established through

existing accelerator programs, grants, and ecosystem partnerships. ABAG

actively participates in deal sourcing for the programs by contributing its

own investment opportunities while also benefiting from its partners' deal

flow, creating a mutually beneficial deal sourcing structure. Access is thus

maintained, while capital intensity is reduced. This element is important

because it feeds the pipeline for the investment pillar without inflating

the balance sheet.

The fourth pillar is consulting for wealthy private structures and family

offices. The strategy assumes that acceptance of digital assets in this

segment has now increased significantly, but that operational expertise,

tooling, and governance are often lacking. ABAG aims to fill this gap by

supporting in setting up custody structures, selecting secure yield

strategies such as staking, restaking, or secured lending, and ongoing

portfolio monitoring. The key point is that these services can be

remunerated independently of token prices and can therefore be easily

established as a recurring component in the results. At the same time, a

circle of potential co-investors for future funds or direct transactions is

created.

The fifth pillar is an analytics or data infrastructure that has already

been designed under ABX Analytics. The analytics platform provides all

business pillars with standardized due diligence processes, data on

financing rounds, and project and market comparisons. It is a central

cross-sectional element that supports informed decisions in all areas. In

addition, the plan is to monetize this platform externally, for example in

the form of subscriptions or API access.

The timeline presented for 2026 to 2028 translates the strategic

architecture of ABAG 2.0 into a sequence of concrete milestones relevant to

the capital market. The first steps will be to stabilize the balance sheet

and organization, expand the treasury position, increase the proportion of

liquid assets, and launch the advisory unit. At the same time, the PoC

(proof of concept) and MVP (minimum viable product) of the analytics

platform are to be completed, but with explicit reference to previously

identified institutional pilot customers. The planned simplification of the

group structure in the same phase is imperative because only a streamlined

set of legal entities will enable standardized reporting and thus the

capital market transactions planned for later on to be carried out in a

technically sound manner.

In 2027, the focus of planning will shift noticeably from development and

testing to scaling. The first marketable Bitcoin-related product component

is planned, flanked by possible further capital market measures. At the same

time, the investment and consulting pillars will no longer work on an ad hoc

basis, but with active portfolio management and conversion of earlier

mandates into recurring engagements. The beta version of ABX Analytics is

also expected in this phase, which from a research perspective marks the

transition from internal enablement to an externally marketable product.

Particularly noteworthy is the placement of a first specialized investment

fund. If this step is successful, ABAG would have a structured, management

fee-eligible source of income for the first time that is not tied to its own

balance sheet funds and increases the attractiveness of the platform to

institutional investors.

The plan for 2028 is to have a fully developed and

operationally-consolidated platform. The plan is to introduce a second,

replicated Bitcoin product, continue to use capital-market-oriented

financing instruments, build a broadly diversified portfolio across all

defined verticals, and establish an institutionalized analytics unit with an

international customer base. ABAG is thus establishing a

bear-market-resilient business model with stable, recurring revenues spread

across all five pillars. In this final stage, the plan describes ABAG as a

hybrid institution between an investment house and a data-driven financial

platform that can both serve the innovation cycles of the blockchain economy

and translate them into the language and processes of traditional capital

market participants. The stages build on each other. Each subsequent stage

requires the successful implementation of the previous one. Without a

simplified structure and robust reporting, no convertible instruments can be

placed. Without initial paying mandates in consulting and without

functioning analytics pilots, it is not possible to credibly tell the story

of a recurring, non-market-cyclical business. On a positive note, the plan

implicitly takes these dependencies into account and does not assume sudden

jumps in revenue, but rather a sequential ramp-up based on verifiable

intermediate steps.

In evaluating this strategy, it is initially positive that it addresses the

weaknesses of the past very directly. The lack of recurring revenues will be

replaced by consulting mandates, future fund fees, treasury monetization,

and subscription fees from the ABX Analytics platform. The complex structure

is to be replaced by clearly defined pillars. The balance sheet risk of own

projects is mitigated by a shift toward external programs. The capital

market reference is also clearer than before. A listed company that

continuously verifies its digital reserves on chain, disciplines corporate

development through governance and reporting, and has a recognizable,

transferable model for treasury management is much easier for investors to

evaluate than a mixture of many small, difficult-to-assess ventures.

From our perspective, we can conclude that the strategy is conceptually

sound because it accepts the cyclical nature of crypto but seeks to cushion

it operationally. It combines a narrative that is well known and accepted in

the market, namely linking the share price to a growing Bitcoin reserve,

with elements that typically lead to higher multiples, namely recurring

consulting and platform revenues. The open questions do not lie in the

concept, but in the evidence. The decisive factors will be whether the

company achieves its first visible successes in the short term in terms of

its schedule and whether external customers not affiliated with the group

can be won over for the consulting or analytics track.

You can download the research here:

https://eqs-cockpit.com/c/fncls.ssp?u=3066e973a2dadc61f37b850c11962c21

Contact for questions:

GBC AG

Halderstraße 27

86150 Augsburg

0821 / 241133 0

research@gbc-ag.de

++++++++++++++++

Offenlegung möglicher Interessenskonflikte nach § 85 WpHG und Art. 20 MAR

Beim oben analysierten Unternehmen ist folgender möglicher

Interessenkonflikt gegeben: (5a,11); Einen Katalog möglicher

Interessenkonflikte finden Sie unter:

http://www.gbc-ag.de/de/Offenlegung

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Completion: 17.11.2025 (11:00 Uhr)

First disclosure: 18.11.2025 (12:00 Uhr)

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