Shares of AgriFORCE Growing Systems skyrocketed over 200% at the open on Monday after the agricultural tech company revealed a shift towards an AVAX digital asset treasury model.
The firm will rebrand as AVAX One, aiming to raise $550 million to establish a treasury focused on Avalanche (AVAX), the native token of the Avalanche blockchain.
As stated in a Monday press release, the company’s goal is to acquire more than $700 million in AVAX tokens. As a long-term strategy, it will also pursue acquiring and integrating revenue-generating fintech businesses into the Avalanche network.
The funding strategy encompasses a $300 million private investment in public equity (PIPE) deal, pending shareholder approval, alongside plans to raise an additional $250 million through equity-linked instruments.
Hivemind Capital is spearheading the raise, supported by over 50 backers, including institutional firms and crypto-native players like ParaFi, Galaxy Digital, Kraken, Big Brain Holdings, and FalconX.
The advisory board will be led by Anthony Scaramucci, founder of SkyBridge Capital and a well-known crypto investor, along with Brett Tejpaul, head of Coinbase Institutional.
Matt Zhang, Founder of Hivemind Capital and nominated chairman of the board at the company, informed Cointelegraph that Avalanche was “a very deliberate choice.” He mentioned that his team considered “four other blockchain foundations” before opting for Avalanche, primarily due to its unwavering focus on on-chain finance and outstanding partnerships.
Zhang highlighted that staking, which involves securing a blockchain while earning yield, was a significant factor in selecting Avalanche.
“Staking transforms us into a functioning business from day one, rather than merely being a passive treasury. It’s a crucial aspect of our strategy. According to our model, the revenue from staking ensures profitability of the business right from the start,” Zhang explained.
At the time of writing, AVAX was trading at $31.76, according to CoinGecko. At this rate, a $700 million investment would total approximately 22 million AVAX tokens. With validators earning an annual percentage yield (APY) of about 6.7% from staking, this position could yield around $46.9 million in yearly rewards.
This announcement follows less than two weeks after the Avalanche Foundation unveiled plans to raise $1 billion for digital asset treasury firms and initiatives aimed at accumulating AVAX.
AGRI stock rose from a $2.41 close on Friday to open at $7.30 on Monday, according to Yahoo Finance data, eventually retreating to finish the trading day on Nasdaq at $5.73, reflecting a 137% increase.
Related: Scaramucci to tokenize $300M in assets, nearly doubling Avalanche’s RWA base
From gaming to ETFs, Avalanche records fresh growth signals
Avalanche is an open-source blockchain launched in 2020 by Cornell University professor Emin Gün Sirer. The network is built to support smart contracts and decentralized applications (DApps), with a strong emphasis on DeFi.
One sector where Avalanche has thrived is Web3 gaming. In June, the chain surpassed 1 million daily transactions on two separate occasions within a week, largely driven by activity from MapleStory Universe, a blockchain-based adaptation of the popular game.
Investor interest in AVAX has been rising as well. In February, Sweden-based asset manager Vitune launched a crypto exchange-traded product (ETP), providing Finnish investors exposure to AVAX and Cardano (ADA).
The following month, global investment firm VanEck submitted a filing with the SEC to launch an Avalanche exchange-traded fund (ETF). In August, Grayscale Investments aimed to convert its existing Avalanche Trust into an ETF.
By the end of August, Avalanche led all blockchains in transaction growth, heralding a rise of over 66% in one week and tallying more than 11.9 million transactions.
This surge in users followed the announcement that the US Department of Commerce intends to publish real gross domestic product (GDP) data on several blockchains, including Avalanche.
While AVAX remains significantly below its all-time high of $144.96 reached in November 2021, data from CoinGecko indicates that the token has appreciated by approximately 24% in the past two weeks.
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