Solana Company ( HSDT ), the digital investment firm formerly known as Helius Medical Technologies and backed by Pantera Capital, has moved ahead with unlocking shares for early stage investors in its $500 million PIPE round as the company’s stock trades below its original purchase price.
The shares, which were sold in a private placement in September at $6,881 each, have qualified for sale earlier than planned, the firm said in a news release on Monday. HSDT shares have fallen to around $6.50 after a steep three-session slide that stripped nearly 60% of its market value, including a 17% drop on Monday.
“Ripping off the band-aid is the approach we are confidently taking, while many other DATs choose to stall,” the company wrote on X on Monday.
“The pressure on our share price that comes with the effectiveness of the resale registration statement is likely to shake out weak hands, but we believe this will also establish a remaining foundation of committed long-term shareholders,” Joseph Chee, executive chairman of the firm, said in a statement.
Private placements in public equity deals, or PIPEs for short, allow institutional investors to buy shares in public companies at predetermined prices, often at a discount. It has become a favorite method among newly launched digital asset treasury firms to quickly raise capital to accumulate cryptocurrencies.
But several firms saw their share prices collapse as sales registration for PIPE investors went live, raising doubts about the structure’s sustainability in crypto markets.
HSDT’s stock rose to over $25 after the PIPE deal, before falling over 70% as hype about digital assets across the market died down.
Read more: The Rise and (Mostly) Fall of the PIPE Model in Bitcoin Treasury Strategies
