AlphaTON Capital, a Nasdaq-listed company newly rebranded from Portage Biotch (PRTG), said it will purchase about $100 million worth of toncoin to build a digital asset treasury firm offering exposure to the token.
The firm will operate under the ticker “ATON” starting Sept. 4. It plans on managing TON network infrastructure and incubating applications within the Telegram messaging system’s ecosystem, while also generating token staking rewards.
The company’s shares, still trading under the PRTG ticker, rose 14% to $7.91.
The TON blockchain is a community-driven project supported by open-source developers after Telegram developed the original TON blockchain in 2018, but dropped it following regulatory pressured in 2020. Telegram CEO Pavel Durov endorsed the now independent project in 2021.
AlphaTON’s treasury strategy comes with a loan facility from BitGo for $35 million to accelerate token acquisition and staking operations.
The company named Brittany Kaiser as CEO. She joins Enzo Villani, a Nasdaq Global Corporate Solution co-founder, who will serve as executive chairman.
To fund the TON purchase, AlphaTON secured $38.2 million through a private placement. The loan from BitGo will be collateralized by TON tokens and is due in six months.
UPDATE (Sept. 3, 15:08 UTC): Adds fourth paragraph on TON blockchain’s link history Telegram.
