(Reuters) -ReserveOne, a new cryptocurrency holding company with ties to industry veterans and a former U.S. commerce secretary, said on Tuesday it will list on the Nasdaq through a blank-check deal that is expected to raise more than $1 billion.
The company will manage a portfolio of cryptocurrencies including bitcoin, ethereum and Solana. Shares of M3-Brigade Acquisition V Corp, the blank-check firm, fell nearly 4% before the open.
The deal is the latest in a series of efforts to wrap crypto assets into equity and make them more appealing for traditional investors.
The exponential stock price growth of Michael Saylor’s Strategy, which pivoted to a bitcoin-focused business model in 2020, has also popularized the playbook.
While ReserveOne is joining a crowded space, its leadership team includes some high-profile figures. The company will be led by CEO Jaime Leverton, the former chief of crypto miner and computing provider Hut 8.
Sebastian Bea, a former executive at asset managers BlackRock and Coinbase Asset Management, will be its president and head of investment.
The company’s board will be chaired by stablecoin giant Tether’s co-founder Reeve Collins, and will include Wilbur Ross, the Secretary of Commerce in the first Trump administration.
Crypto firm Blockchain.com and crypto exchange Kraken are among the investors, contributing up to $750 million to the deal, through a combination of equity and convertible debt offering.
Blank-check firms, or special purpose acquisition companies, are shell entities that raise capital through an IPO with the sole purpose of merging with a private company, which then becomes publicly traded.
(Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)
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