Helius Medical Technologies, listed on Nasdaq, is initiating a $500 million corporate treasury reserve centered around Solana, marking it as one of the largest Solana-focused treasury initiatives to date.
The firm announced on Monday that it has priced an oversubscribed private investment in public equity (PIPE) offering of common stock at $6.88 per share, with stapled warrants exercisable at $10.12 for three years. This deal encompasses $500 million in equity and potentially $750 million in warrants, if fully exercised.
Helius indicated that it will use the net proceeds from the offering to create a cryptocurrency treasury strategy, utilizing the Solana (SOL) token as its primary reserve asset. The company stated it plans to “significantly scale holdings over the next 12-24 months through a best-in-class capital markets program, incorporating ATM sales and other proven strategies.”
Additionally, Helius will investigate staking and lending opportunities within the Solana ecosystem to generate extra revenue from the SOL treasury, while adhering to a “conservative” risk profile, it noted.
Guided by crypto-focused US asset manager Pantera Capital and Asian fund manager Summer Capital, the offering is slated to close on Thursday. Other contributors include Big Brain Holdings, Avenir, FalconX, Arrington Capital, Animoca Brands, and HashKey Capital.
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Solana a “category-defining” blockchain
“We believe that Solana is a category-defining blockchain that will serve as the foundation for a new financial system,” stated Dan Morehead, founder and managing partner of Pantera Capital.
“A productive treasury company, supporting the industry’s most affordable, fastest, and most accessible network, is poised to significantly enhance institutional and retail access to the Solana ecosystem, thus promoting its global adoption.”
Post-closing of the offering, the company’s management team will be spearheaded by incoming director and executive chairman Joseph Chee, who is currently the founder and chairman of Summer Capital and previously headed Investment Banking across Asia at UBS.
The new crypto treasury vehicle will aim to “maximize SOL per share by leveraging the most commercially viable blockchain for decentralized finance and consumer applications,” Chee remarked, foreseeing that capital markets transactions will begin “to migrate onto blockchain rails,” covering payments and tokenization.
Helius described SOL as “financially productive by design,” offering around a 7% native staking yield, unlike Bitcoin (BTC), which it termed a “non-yield-bearing” asset.
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Solana adoption gains institutional momentum
Helius’ announcement comes as institutional interest in Solana treasury strategies escalates, following a $306 million purchase of Solana by digital asset investment firm Galaxy Digital on Sunday, in collaboration with Multicoin Capital and Jump Crypto to form a crypto treasury firm.
The rise of corporate crypto treasury firms may boost demand and contribute to the appreciation of the Solana token, which has surged nearly 25% year-to-date, as TradingView data indicates.
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