Solana Company (HSDT), the digital asset treasury firm formerly known as Helius Medical Technologies and backed by Pantera Capital, has advanced to unlock shares for early investors in a $500 million PIPE round as the company’s stock trades below its initial purchase price.
The company announced in a press release on Monday that the shares, which were sold in a private placement in September at $6.881 a share, are now available for sale ahead of schedule. HSDT stock fell to around $6.50 following a three-session plunge that wiped out nearly 60% of its market value, including a 17% drop on Monday.
“While many other DATs are choosing to stagnate, ‘ripping off the bandaid’ is the approach we are proudly taking,” the company posted on Monday’s X.
“While the pressure on our stock price due to the effectiveness of the resale registration statement is likely to shake off the weaker forces, we believe it will also establish a remaining base of long-term loyal shareholders,” company executive chairman Joseph Chee said in a statement.
A private placement in a public equity transaction (PIPE for short) allows institutional investors to purchase shares in a public company at a preset price, often at a discount. This has become the preferred method among recently launched digital asset treasury companies to quickly raise funds to accumulate cryptocurrencies.
However, several companies saw their stock prices plummet when sales registration for PIPE investors began, raising questions about the sustainability of the structure in the cryptocurrency market.
HSDT stock soared above $25 following the PIPE trade, but plummeted more than 70% as the market-wide digital asset treasury hype deflated.
Read more: The Rise and (Mostly) Fall of the PIPE Model in Bitcoin Financial Strategies