Nano Labs Ltd, a Chinese blockchain infrastructure company, has announced plans to buy $1 billion of Binance Coin (BNB) to create a crypto treasury within the near future. Crypto companies have been focused on a Bitcoin minimalist approach and have largely ignored alt coins. However, Nano Labs is breaking this habit and will be investing in BNB as a reserve treasury. The corporate treasury aims to build between 5% and 10% of BNB’s total supply, reaching an estimated amount of between $4.7 billion and $9.4 billion, which is a staggering roadmap for the publicly listed company to take. Nano Labs’ stock price jumped from around $10 to $30, tripling stocks after the announcement, but then settling down at around $15 at the end of the day.
“Nano Labs”, annouced Wu Blockchain on X, “a Nasdaq-listed crypto mining chip design company, has entered into a $500 million convertible note agreement, aiming to accumulate BNB as part of its treasury strategy. The company plans to assess BNB’s security and value and ultimately acquire up to $1 billion in BNB, targeting 5–10% of its total circulating supply”.
Nano Labs Ltd made an official announcement, detailing plans to create a private placement of convertible promissory notes totalling $500 million to finance the BNB treasury strategy. The promissory notes will mature in 360 days without making interest, but can be converted to stocks of Nano Labs starting at a price of $20. Nano Labs annouced that they were investigating the longevity and security of BNB as an investment strategy. They outlined a roadmap of initially targeting $1 billion worth of BNB as a milestone and then moving forward to accumulating between 5% and 10% of the total BNB circulating supply. The company further mentioned that the roadmap may change over time to adapt to changing market conditions. Nano Labs further cautioned investors to make their own investment decisions and to consider any risks involved when taking on a new investment.
“Nano Labs Ltd (Nasdaq: NA)”, wrote Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao on X, “becomes a $BNB-only strategic reserve public co, bringing $500 million to BNB. 👏 Their stock price went through the roof. We (my affiliated entities) did not participate in this round, but remain extremely supportive. Not financial advice”!
The Chinese company Nano Labs specialises in building high-performance computer chips, and has already started to build a Bitcoin treasury. However, the company now wishes to add BNB to its balance sheet, developing a multifaceted asset strategy. Nano Labs is well known for its Cuckoo series high-performance chips which can be used for crypto mining and other computing tasks. The GPU chips allow the company to compete with other blockchain infrastructure projects. The latest investment in BNB aligns with the company’s focus on cryptocurrencies and with a newfound interest in Web3 business use cases. Wu Blockchain, a crypto commentator, was one of the first analysts to spread the news, focusing on the broader roadmap of the company. Treasury strategies have often been dominated by Bitcoin and Ethereum. But there is a growing interest in the BNB token, especially regarding its use by Binance exchange.
The convertible bonds, used by Nano Labs to finance the BNB treasury, will mature 360 days after their issuance. The bonds can be redeemed for Nano Labs class A shares before the maturity date ends, starting at a price of $20 per ordinary share. The shareholders will have no claim to the underlying BNB tokens. The issuance of bonds may change due to demand dynamics. Nano Labs plans on continuing their BNB strategy by accumulating $1 billion BNB, financing the treasury through convertible bonds and private placements. Nano Labs already has a Bitcoin treasury of 360 BTC bought at an average price of $99,700. The company may add to its Bitcoin treasury through its payment system which accepts BTC from customers.
Changpeng Zhao, co-founder of Binance, noticed the massive increase in price for Nano Labs shares. He was impressed with the response that the company received after announcing the news of a BNB treasury. Zhao, however, mentioned that he did not have any involvement in the funding round this time but still supports the company. Corporate investors have taken a sudden interest in BNB as a treasury asset, with hedge funds in particular showing an interest in creating funding rounds at the $100 million level. VanEck, an asset management company, has gone further than this, proposing a BNB spot ETF for traditional finance and institutional investors to trade the token through a regulated market.
