Block.one, the company behind the multi-billion dollar ICO of EOS, has decided to buy back 10 percent of its shares from the early investors, according to a May 22 Bloomberg report.
This will payout the earliest backers a return of 6,567 percent in less than three years. The list of startup investors also include names like Peter Thiel, Alan Howard, and Louis Bacon
Block.one is one of the few crypto unicorns with a valuation of $2.3 billion, which went up from $40 million at the time of its seed round in 2017. The Cayman Island-registered company is offering $1,500 for each share compared to the seed round pricing of $22.5.
Stacking billions
The Blockchain startup is developing a decentralized ecosystem and is aiming to provide end-to-end business solutions - from strategic planning to product deployment. In a year-long token sale, it raised $4 billion to become the largest ICO till date.
In a March 19 email to the shareholders, the company answered a few concerns with its money management and disclosed that it has assets worth $3 billion by the end of February, consisting of cash and other investments.
Contrary to the sector in which it is operating, $2.2 billion worth Block.one’s investments are in US government bonds. Though the company also holds around 140,000 Bitcoins along with many other digital assets, it's crypto portfolio took a massive hit in the bear market. However, in a May 15 email, the company revealed that its crypto losses were “more than fully recovered” with the recent Bitcoin rally.
Despite the buyback with strong returns, it is not clear whether all the early investors are going to cash out from the startup. Christian Angermayer, an early Block.one backer already put forth his intention to keep holding the company stocks and told Bloomberg: “Block.one is one of the most promising and best-positioned companies in the blockchain industry, and its success story is just beginning.”
The positions of Thiel, Bacon, and Howard, all of whom bought into the company in 2018, are not known yet.
Meanwhile, Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital sold its stake of Block.one receiving $71.2 million - 123 percent return on the realized investment.
