Nasdaq-listed CEA Industries Inc. (VAPE) announced a $500 million private placement on July 28, upsized due to overwhelming demand, with warrants potentially expanding the total to $1.25 billion. The capital—comprising $400 million cash and $100 million crypto—aims to establish the world's largest publicly traded treasury exclusively for Binance Coin (BNB), marking a strategic shift from Bitcoin-centric models.
Co-led by 10X Capital and backed by YZi Labs, the initiative has secured commitments from over 140 institutional investors including Pantera Capital and BitFury founders. The venture is helmed by Galaxy Digital co-founder David Namdar as CEO and former CalPERS CIO Russell Read as CIO, with ex-Kraken executive Saad Naja driving ecosystem integration. The transaction is slated to close by July 31.
CEA's three-pillar strategy includes aggressive BNB accumulation using capital markets tools, yield generation through staking and DeFi protocols within Binance's 280-million-user ecosystem, and developer collaborations via BNB Chain. This move challenges Bitcoin's institutional monopoly and could catalyze similar altcoin treasuries for assets like Solana or Avalanche if successful.