Safety Shot Inc., a healthy beverage company, is set to receive $25 million worth of BONK from the founding contributors of the Solana meme coin. By the end of the year, the company aims to acquire up to $115 million worth of the Solana meme coin.
It is the latest in a long line of publicly traded companies pivoting to create crypto treasuries, first starting with Bitcoin and, more recently, expanding to the fringes of the industry.
Traded on the NASDAQ under the ticker SHOT, the wellness company has slumped 92% from its all-time high of $8.88 in early 2021 to just $0.6883, according to TradingView. It currently has a market capitalization of $82.7 million. By comparison, BONK’s market cap is above $2 billion.
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The move will see BONK founding contributors “deeply integrate” into the Safety Shot company. This includes pseudonymous core contributor Nom, who will be joining Safety Shot in a strategic capacity to assist with the accumulation of BONK, as well as to advise on how to operate on-chain. Exact details of this arrangement are to be announced.
“Since BONK’s initial airdrop, there has been no fundraise or accessible way for many investors, traditional companies, or funds to ‘invest’ in BONK without holding the native token,” Nom told Decrypt. “This is a way to hold exposure to BONK for many in traditional accounts. It acts as a further step towards being approved in the accepted regulatory framework, solidifying a diverse set of owners of the token, and will act as a foundational part of BONK as an investable asset for the future.”
After FTX collapsed in November 2022, Solana was in a dire state due to Sam Bankman-Fried’s public support of the blockchain. Amid the wreckage, a group decided to create BONK as a “community coin” airdropped to Solana developers and community members around Christmas time. Many believe it helped save Solana from what appeared to be certain death.
Safety Shot decided to pivot to become a BONK treasury company thanks to its exclusive financial advisor, Dominari Securities, LLC., Nom told Decrypt. Dominari Securities also aided with the formation of a Tron treasury company. Nom added that the BONK treasury company had been in the works for “months,” and Monday’s $25 million announcement is just the first step.
The treasury company trend follows the success of Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy, which started buying up Bitcoin in 2020. Previously a middling business intelligence software company, it has since continued acquiring BTC, which has seen its stock skyrocket in value as Bitcoin broke new all-time highs.