Meten EdTechX/BTC Digital Shares Backed By Aegis

Have you purchased shares of a company called BTC Digital, or Metem Ed TechX, as was previously known, on the recommendation of your Aegis broker?

Silver Law Group is a securities law firm that looks after investors’ interests. If you or someone you know have suffered losses from an Aegis-related investment recommendation, contact attorney Scott Silver at ssilver@silverlaw.com or toll-free at (800) 975-4345 for a free consultation.

BTC Digital, (BTCT) is a crypto asset technology company that engages in bitcoin mining and the rental and resale of bitcoin mining machines. Founded in 2006 and originally named Ed TechX, it later bought Meten. The company engaged in English language training (ELT) until it changed to bitcoin mining in 2022, changing its name to BTC Digital. The company also changed its stock ticker from the original METX to its current BTCT. The company is headquartered in Shenzhen, China.

Meten/BTC is one of the many micro-cap companies underwritten by Aegis, which sold the stock to its retail customers. In its March 2024 report, SLCG Economic Consulting described Aegis as one of “the worst” retail brokerages, and a “Farm-to-Table Securities Fraud Purveyor” that cost its customers $5 billion in losses.

Aegis Capital’s underwrote Meten/BTC. The company allegedly directly harmed individual investors by pushing them into risky and ultimately worthless securities, usually using misleading research and potential price manipulation. The result was catastrophic financial losses for ordinary people, many of whom were not equipped to handle these risks.

BTC’s Worth

Although the company raised $125M in 2021-2022, it lost over 70% of that capital.

Meten EdTechX Education Group is now trading on the NASDAQ under the symbol BTCT as of August 2023. This follows the shift in its business focus from education technology to crypto asset technology, specifically bitcoin mining and related services.

Market Capitalization and Stock Price. As of April 11, 2025, BTC Digital Ltd. (BTCT) had a market capitalization of approximately $18.34 million, with a stock price of $3.49 per share. This figure represents the most recent and relevant valuation of the company under its new business model and ticker symbol.
Historical Context. Before the rebranding, as Meten EdTechX Education Group (METX), the company had a significantly lower market capitalization, around $3.1 million at the end of December 2023, with a share price of $2.03.

The company’s transformation into BTC Digital Ltd. and subsequent focus on bitcoin mining contributed to the increase in market cap and share price.

Aegis’ Involvement As Underwriters for BTC Digital

Underwriting in the context of stocks means that a financial firm like Aegis Capital helps a company raise money by selling its shares to the public. The underwriter is supposed to carefully review the company’s health and prospects, ensuring that the stock is a reasonable investment for buyers. Underwriters are expected to keep overly risky or failing companies out of the market, or at the very least, fully disclose the risks to potential investors.

The firm has been underwriting nano-cap stocks and selling them to its customers, creating a potential conflict of interest. Aegis Capital’s underwriting of Meten, later BTC Digital, had a devastating impact on individual investors. The firm underwrote four separate stock offerings for Meten between 2021 and 2022, totaling $126 million.

During this period, Aegis promoted Meten to its retail customers, publishing research reports with strong buy recommendations and high price targets, even as the company’s prospects deteriorated rapidly. As a result, investors who purchased Meten shares through these offerings suffered catastrophic losses. This stock ultimately lost more than 98% of its value.

Aegis Capital repeatedly underwrote (helped sell) new shares for Meten, a company that changed its business model several times and was struggling financially. Despite Meten’s poor prospects, Aegis:

Underwrote four Meten stock offerings between 2021 and 2022, totaling $126 million.
Published its research reports with strong “buy” recommendations and high price targets, encouraging its retail customers to invest.

Eventually, investors who purchased Meten shares through these offerings suffered catastrophic losses after the stock lost more than 98% of its value.

Aegis Retail Customers

Several conditions existed that allegedly harmed retail customers of Aegis:

Promotion of Worthless Stocks: Aegis recommended Meten stock to ordinary investors even though the company was already in financial distress and its shares were “very nearly worthless”.
Failure of Due Diligence: Aegis allegedly did not properly investigate Meten’s business or disclose the true risks, which is a key part of an underwriter’s job.
Artificial Price Inflation: There is evidence that Aegis or others manipulated Meten’s stock price on specific days to meet requirements for new offerings, making the stock appear more valuable than it was. This allowed Aegis to sell more shares at artificially high prices and make money from the proceeds.
Massive Investor Losses: After these offerings, Meten’s stock price collapsed by over 99%, meaning retail investors who bought the stock lost almost all their money.

Aegis’ underwriting of Meten was frequently unsuitable for its retail customers because it:

Sold them shares in a failing company while presenting the investment as much less risky than it truly was.
Encouraged investments based on misleading research and manipulated prices.
This led to devastating financial losses for ordinary investors, many of whom could not afford to lose their savings.

This conduct is considered especially harmful because retail investors typically rely on their brokers and underwriters to act in their best interests and to provide honest, thorough assessments of investment risks.

Impact of Aegis Capital’s Underwriting of Meten on Individual Investors

Severe Financial Losses. Aegis Capital’s underwriting of Meten, later BTC Digital, had a devastating impact on individual investors. The firm underwrote four separate stock offerings for Meten between 2021 and 2022, totaling $126 million. During this period, Aegis promoted Meten to its retail customers, publishing research reports with strong buy recommendations and unrealistic price targets, even as the company’s prospects deteriorated rapidly. Investors who purchased Meten shares through these offerings suffered catastrophic losses after the stock lost more than 98% of its value.
Promotion of Unsuitable Investments. Aegis Capital allegedly failed to conduct proper due diligence on Meten, a company already in financial distress and later pivoted from English-language training to Bitcoin mining. Despite these red flags, Aegis continued recommending Meten stock to retail investors. Many of these customers were small investors saving for retirement and could not absorb such high risk. The investments were clearly unsuitable. Investors have since pursued arbitration claims against Aegis for failing to disclose the true risks of these stocks.
Manipulation and Market Abuse. Investigations have revealed that Aegis or its associates engaged in “marking the close.” That is, Aegis artificially inflated Meten’s stock price at the end of the trading day to meet regulatory requirements for new stock offerings. For example, on September 1, 2021, Meten’s stock price spiked to $0.92 (up 37% from the previous day) on an unusually high trading volume, enabling a $60 million offering that would not have been possible otherwise. The next day, the stock opened at less than half that price. This kind of market manipulation allowed Aegis to sell large amounts of nearly worthless stock to unsuspecting individual investors, who then saw their investments collapse in value almost immediately.
Cumulative Harm and Loss of Trust. The harm caused by Aegis’s underwriting practices is not limited to Meten. Aegis has a pattern of underwriting high-risk, failing companies and pushing these stocks onto retail clients. According to detailed investigations, Aegis’s activities have resulted in billions of dollars in investor losses and have eroded trust in the fairness of the market for individual investors.

Did Your Aegis Financial Broker Recommend BTC Digital? 

Silver Law Group represents investors in stockbroker misconduct cases involving allegations of negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, failure to supervise, and other causes of actions. These claims are frequently submitted to FINRA which administers the largest arbitration forum for investor disputes. We handle these cases on a contingency fee basis.

Silver Law Group represents the interests of investors who have been the victims of investment fraud. Our attorneys represent investors in class actions against issuers and securities arbitration claims against brokers for misconduct like the allegations against Aegis. Scott Silver, managing partner of Silver Law Group, is the chairman of the Securities and Financial Fraud Group of the American Association of Justice and represents investors nationwide in securities investment fraud cases. Please contact Scott Silver for a no-cost consultation at ssilver@silverlaw.com or toll-free at (800) 975-4345.