Avalanche Foundation, a nonprofit behind the cryptocurrency Avalanche, is reportedly raising $1 billion to launch digital asset treasury projects and accumulation projects.
Avalanche Foundation is in active discussions with investors to launch a digital asset treasury company and convert another company into a “crypto-hoarding” vehicle, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing sources familiar with the matter.
The nonprofit reportedly expects to raise $1 billion in funding, which would be used to purchase Avalanche (AVAX) from the foundation at a discounted price.
Avalanche is the 21st largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, valued at $12.2 billion as of publication, according to CoinGecko.
Two deals involving Hivemind and Dragonfly
According to the report, the Avalanche Foundation’s $1 billion raise involves two deals, including a $500 million private placement led by New York-based blockchain investment firm Hivemind Capital in an existing company listed on Nasdaq.
The first deal was reportedly likely to be finalized at the end of the month, with Anthony Scaramucci — a prominent crypto investor and former White House communications director — serving as adviser.
The second deal was reportedly carried out via a special purpose acquisition vehicle, which involves major industry investor Dragonfly Capital. The deal reportedly also looks to raise up to $500 million but might not be finalized until October, the sources told the FT.
Cointelegraph approached Ava Labs, Hivemind and Dragonfly for comment regarding the potential raise but did not receive a response at the time of publication.
AVAX supply capped at 720 million tokens
Hivemind and Dragonfly are expected to purchase AVAX tokens from the Avalanche Foundation at a discounted price, the report added.
At today’s prices, $1 billion would translate into 34.7 million AVAX, or around 8% of 422.3 million Avalanche tokens in circulation.
Similar to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), which has a supply capped at 21 million BTC, Avalanche has a limited supply of 720 million AVAX.
Launched in September 2020, Avalanche is an open-source blockchain platform that supports decentralized applications and smart contracts. The protocol is developed by Ava Labs, a startup founded by Cornell University’s Emin Gün Sirer.
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AVAX, the native cryptocurrency of the Avalanche blockchain, reached all-time highs above $134 soon after its launch, peaking at around $135 in November 2021, according to CoinGecko data. The cryptocurrency subsequently experienced a sharp sell-off in early 2022 and has not climbed above $65 since.
At the time of writing, AVAX traded at $28.8, seeing a notable price surge of 16% in the past seven days.
As a major altcoin, Avalanche has been gaining significant industry momentum recently. In August, major industry investor Grayscale Investments filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to launch a spot Avalanche exchange-traded fund (ETF).
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