Nasdaq-listed Nano Labs plans $500 million convertible note sale to fund BNB treasury

Chinese chip designer Nano Labs Ltd. (Nasdaq: NA) plans to sell $500 million in zero-coupon convertible promissory notes and use the cash to build a BNB treasury, the company said Tuesday.

The notes mature in 360 days and can be converted into Class A shares at a price of $20 each. Nano Labs claims it has secured subscriptions from several investors and may double the offering if demand holds, letting the firm buy up to $1 billion of BNB in phase one, according to a statement. 

The BNB token, associated with the cryptocurrency exchange Binance, has a market capitalization of $93 billion, with a circulating supply of 145.9 million, according to The Block’s price page. 

Nano Labs shares jumped almost 200% in U.S. pre-market trading, pushing the company’s market value above $181 million, Yahoo Finance data showed. The firm, founded by former executives from Bitcoin miner Canaan, went public in 2022.

Companies have mostly favored bitcoin for crypto balance-sheet plays, while a handful— such as SharpLink and DeFi Development Corp.—have branched out to Ether and Solana, respectively.

Although BNB has not been a common choice in this trend, Nano Labs is the second outfit this week to target the Binance-backed coin.

On Monday, former Coral Capital Holdings executives revealed a newly formed firm called Build & Build Corporation, a new venture that aims to raise $100 million to buy BNB and intends to go public.