The founder of Berachain has pushed back against a recent report claiming that one of its lead Series B investors was granted the option to reclaim a $25 million stake, calling the coverage “incomplete” and “inaccurate.”
On Monday, Unchained reported that Berachain had given Brevan Howard’s crypto arm, Nova Digital, a one-year window to request a refund on its $25 million contribution to Berachain’s April 2024 Series B round.
The outlet also published a side letter signed by Berachain general counsel Jonathan Ip and Nova director Carol Reynolds stating that Nova could recoup “some or all” of its investment for “twelve months following” Berachain’s token generation event (TGE).
Berachain’s TGE — its token mint — occurred on Feb. 6, meaning Nova would purportedly retain refund rights until Feb. 6, 2026.
Berachain founder: Brevan received no special treatment
Smokey the Bera, Berachain’s pseudonymous founder, said the report mischaracterized the agreement, arguing that Brevan Howard’s investment was made under the same terms as other Series B participants.
“Brevan Howard co-led our Series B a year ago, out of their Abu Dhabi office, via Nova — a new liquid-only vehicle — on the same terms as all other investors,” Smokey said. “Nova had approached Berachain to lead the round several months before this.”
Nova sought added protections, says Smokey
Smokey said Nova requested a specific provision “to guard against a scenario in which Berachain failed to TGE and get listed.”
If Berachain didn’t launch, the locked tokens Nova purchased would “not be an eligible investment” for the firm’s liquid-only strategy, they explained.
“To account for that, we entered into the side letter published in the article and committed Nova to additional commercial arrangements, including an agreement to provide liquidity on the network — something only possible once the chain launched,” Smokey said.
They added that the letter wasn’t designed “to close the deal with a party who otherwise wouldn’t have been interested, or to protect against post-launch losses,” noting that such provisions “generally have precedent.”
Smokey also emphasized that Nova is one of Berachain’s largest tokenholders and an active liquidity provider, holding locked BERA from the Series B round as well as additional BERA acquired on the open market.
“They have increased their BERA exposure over time, despite running a liquid fund in a harsh alt environment,” Smokey added.
Smokey and the Berachain Foundation were contacted for comment via X. Brevan Howard did not respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours.
BERA is down 93% from its February launch peak of $14.83 and is currently trading at $1.05, up 3.2% on the day, according to CoinGecko.
