Helius Medical Technologies launches $500M Solana treasury as shares surge 140%

Helius Medical Technologies has become the latest entrant in the altcoin treasury market with the launch of a $500 million corporate treasury for Solana.

According to a Sep. 15 announcement, the Nasdaq-listed firm has priced an oversubscribed $500 million private equity offering, with the proceeds earmarked for building a long-term Solana-denominated reserve.

Those participating in the PIPE were able to purchase common stock at $6.88 per share, along with stapled warrants that are exercisable at $10.13 over a three-year period. The deal also includes up to $750 million in additional warrants, assuming full exercise, which could boost the total capital inflow to over $1.2 billion.

U.S.-based crypto asset manager Pantera Capital and Hong Kong-based fund manager  Summer Capital led the offering, which is expected to close on Thursday. Other participants in the round include Big Brain Holdings, Avenir, FalconX, Arrington Capital, Animoca Brands, HashKey Capital, and several other investors active in the digital asset space.

“We believe that Solana is a category-defining blockchain and the foundation on which a new financial system will be built,” Dan Morehead, Founder and Managing Partner of Pantera Capital, said in an accompanying statement.

Morehead believes backing from the new treasury company would “substantially increase institutional and retail access to the Solana ecosystem and help fuel its adoption around the world.”

Lately, Solana, which Morehead described as “the industry’s most affordable, fastest, and most accessible network,” has emerged as one of the more popular alternatives to the big two treasury assets, Bitcoin and Ethereum. The fresh wave of institutional demand has helped the (SOL) token appreciate in value over the past months, and as of press time, it was up roughly 80% over the past year.

Like the many public companies that have taken up crypto treasury strategies lately, Helius plans to enhance shareholder value and generate additional value by leveraging Solana’s staking and lending opportunities.

Unlike Bitcoin, which Helius described as “non-yield-bearing,” the Solana network offers a 7% native staking yield. Still, Bitcoin remains the dominant corporate treasury asset, with more than 190 publicly listed companies currently holding BTC on their balance sheets.

Among other plans, the company intends to scale its SOL holdings over the next 12 to 24 months through capital markets programs, while maintaining a conservative risk profile within the Solana ecosystem.

According to Joseph Chee, who is currently the chairman of Summer Capital and has previously served as the head of Investment Banking across Asia at UBS, the goal of the new treasury vehicle is to maximize “SOL per share.” Lee will lead the company’s management team as the director and executive chairman, once the offering closes.

Helius shareholders have found the treasury plan to be a welcome pivot, with the company’s stock surging over 140% following the announcement.

SOL treasury race heats up

Helius Medical Technologies is now part of a small list of eight other public companies that have introduced similar strategies over the past months. 

According to data tracked by CoinGecko, DeFi Development Corp., formerly known as Janover Inc., an online marketplace for the real estate sector that pivoted into a Solana treasury company earlier this year, stands as the largest corporate holder of SOL with over 2.02 million tokens.

Closely following is Upexi Inc., a Tampa-based Solana treasury company, and Sharps Technology, a medical device and pharmaceutical packaging company, both of which now hold over 2 million SOL tokens in their treasuries.