CEA Industries Completes $500 Million Private Placement Financing
CEA Industries, a nicotine e-cigarette product company listed on the Nasdaq, announced on Tuesday that it has completed $500 million in private placement financing, with plans to use BNB tokens as its primary financial reserve asset. This transaction was led by YZi Labs, a family office established by Binance founder Zhao Changpeng (CZ).
The fundraising attracted participation from over 140 investment institutions, including Pantera Capital, GSR, Borderless Capital, Arrington Capital, Blockchain.com, Hypersphere Capital, dao5, Protocol Ventures, and Three Point Capital.
CEA Industries first announced its plan to establish a BNB financial reserve on July 28, causing its stock price (ticker: VAPE) to surge by over 600%. However, the stock fell back in the following days. As of the close on August 5, CEA Industries’ stock price had dropped more than 75% from its peak, closing at $17.77.
CEA Industries also announced that starting August 6, it would change its stock ticker from VAPE to BNC, proceeding with its financial strategy under the name “BNB Network Company.” The company indicated that if all warrants issued in this round are exercised, it could raise an additional $750 million.
CEA plans to use the raised funds to purchase BNB tokens, focusing its strategy on the BNB Chain ecosystem. At the same time, CEA will maintain its existing business operations while simultaneously expanding its BNB-related financial strategies.
In line with this strategic transformation, CEA has also officially restructured its management team. David Namdar, co-founder of Galaxy Digital and senior partner at 10X Capital, will serve as CEO; Russell Read, Chief Investment Officer at 10X Capital and former Chief Investment Officer at the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), will take on the role of Chief Investment Officer. Former CEO Tony McDonald will transition to President while continuing as a board member. Additionally, Hans Thomas, CEO of 10X Capital, and Alexander Monje, partner and general counsel of the firm, will also join the CEA board. 10X Capital will act as CEA’s asset manager for its BNB financial strategy, with the support of YZi Labs.
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CEA Industries joins an increasing number of publicly listed companies incorporating cryptocurrency into their financial reserves, a trend that was initiated by the American software company Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), which adopted Bitcoin (BTC) as its primary financial asset and has accumulated up to 628,791 BTC, valued at over $71.4 billion. In addition to CEA, other publicly listed companies planning to adopt BNB as a corporate financial asset include chip manufacturer Nano Labs and biotech company Windtree.