Ton Foundation seeking $400M to setup public treasury company to accumulate Toncoin

The TON Foundation and Kingsway Capital Partners are seeking to raise at least $400 million for a crypto treasury company that would hold Toncoin, according to a Bloomberg News report citing people familiar with the matter.

The planned vehicle would use a private investment in public equity (PIPE) structure, in which a publicly traded company sells shares to a group of investors, one of the people said.

According to the report, Kingsway could be one of the investors. Manuel Stotz, who runs Kingsway, is also president of the TON Foundation, which is working to expand the use of its blockchain, particularly in the US. 

Despite the rumors, neither Stotz, Kingsway, nor the TON Foundation have made a public statement on the matter. They did not respond to requests for comment.

TON is the native token of the Telegram Open Network blockchain. It currently ranks as the 27th-largest cryptocurrency, with a market capitalization of nearly $8 billion.

It was created by one of Telegram’s co-founders. Now, it operates separately from Telegram’s messaging arm. 

Although most major cap altcoins registered significant gains since the market bottomed in April, TON is down 23% as of press time, currently trading at $3.17.

Nevertheless, TON is up by 9% in July, a notable feature given the controversy surrounding the Ton Foundation’s reportedly offering a golden visa to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in exchange for the token.

The UAE denied the announcement, with a subsequent explanation from the Ton Foundation stating that the initiative was a pilot project developed with the assistance of a licensed partner, and had no formal agreement with the government.

Emulating Michael Saylor

Cohen & Co. is providing banking services for the formation of the treasury company, one person told the report. The firm earlier advised Dynamix in a $1.5 billion blank-check deal to create an Ethereum-focused crypto treasury company. 

Furthermore, Cantor Fitzgerald has expressed interest in exploring the creation of Toncoin-holding public companies as well. Notably, Cantor has helped start several high-profile crypto treasury companies in recent months.

According to the report, the effort comes amid a surge of similar plays inspired by the success of Michael Saylor’s Bitcoin holding company, Strategy, whose stock has appreciated more than 3,400% over the last five years. 

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