CEA Industries closes $500 million raise to launch BNB treasury strategy, led by YZi Labs

CEA Industries, a nicotine vape products company, has closed a $500 million private placement to adopt BNB as its primary treasury reserve asset. The deal was led by YZi Labs, the family office of Binance founder and former CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao.

More than 140 investors participated in the round, including Pantera Capital, GSR, Borderless Capital, Arrington Capital, Blockchain.com, Hypersphere Capital, dao5, Protocol Ventures, and Three Point Capital.

The deal closure comes just over a week after CEA Industries first announced plans to raise $500 million on July 28. Following that announcement, the company’s shares surged more than 600%. As of today, the stock is trading around $17.50 — up 72% over the past month — giving CEA a market capitalization of around $15 million.

CEA Industries will change its Nasdaq ticker from VAPE to BNC on Wednesday and operate its treasury initiative under the name BNB Network Company. An additional $750 million could be raised through warrants issued as part of the placement, assuming 100% of warrants are exercised, the company said.

The company will use the proceeds to purchase BNB tokens, with the strategy centered on the BNB Chain ecosystem. CEA will continue its existing business operations while building out the BNB-focused treasury.

CEA has also officially reshuffled its leadership team as part of the strategic shift. David Namdar, co-founder of Galaxy Digital and senior partner at 10X Capital, has been appointed CEO. Russell Read, CIO at 10X Capital and former CIO of CalPERS, joins as CIO. Outgoing CEO Tony McDonald will become president and remain on the board. Additionally, Hans Thomas, CEO of 10X Capital, and Alexander Monje, the firm’s partner and CLO, will join CEA’s board of directors. 10X Capital will serve as the asset manager of the BNB treasury strategy, with the support of YZi Labs.

Cantor Fitzgerald acted as lead financial advisor and sole placement agent. Cohen & Company and Clear Street served as additional advisors. Winston & Strawn was legal counsel to 10X Capital, while DLA Piper represented Cantor Fitzgerald.

CEA joins a growing list of publicly traded companies deploying crypto-based treasury strategies. Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) pioneered the model with Bitcoin. More recently, other firms have added Ethereum, Solana, XRP, Litecoin, Dogecoin, SUI, Toncoin, and other tokens to their balance sheets.

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