TON powers Telegram’s crypto ecosystem and offers staking rewards to treasury holders.
Verb Technology Company, which focuses on e-commerce and healthcare services, has secured $558 million in gross proceeds through an upsized and oversubscribed private placement (PIPE) to implement a Toncoin (TON) treasury strategy, according to a Monday announcement.
Post-transaction, expected around August 7, Verb Technology is set to rebrand as TON Strategy Co. (TSC) and establish itself as the first publicly traded treasury reserve of Toncoin, the native crypto asset of The Open Network blockchain.
“Telegram is the preferred messenger for the growing global crypto community and $TON is the currency that powers the Telegram ecosystem. In my judgment, permanent capital vehicles are particularly suitable for long-term holdings of $TON, which not only has the potential to compound in value, but also offers staking yield, meaning TSC can benefit from staking rewards,” said Manuel Stotz, incoming Executive Chairman.
Verb will allocate the majority of net proceeds to TON following the close, which would make it one of the largest TON holders. The company estimates it will hold roughly 5% of Toncoin’s circulating market value.
The company also plans to generate sustainable staking rewards, creating a cash flow positive treasury model built around TON.
Verb’s transformation is backed by more than 110 institutional and crypto-native investors. The PIPE was led by Kingsway Capital and anchored by major firms such as Vy Capital, Blockchain.com, Ribbit Capital, and Graticule (GAMA). Other major backers include Pantera, CMCC Global, Kraken, Animoca, ParaFi, and BitGo.
Despite the strategic pivot, Verb’s existing business operations, including its AI-powered livestream shopping platform MARKET.live and recently acquired LyveCom, will continue and are expected to expand.
“The TON ecosystem marks a major step in global crypto adoption, and I’m proud we’re leading efforts to drive investment in the future of digital commerce,” said Peter Smith, CEO & Co-Founder of Blockchain.com and incoming Special Advisor.
The price of TON dropped about 5% following the news, amid a wider sell-off in the crypto market Monday morning, TradingView data shows.
