On June 24, a spectacular show of 'coin-stock linkage' unfolded in U.S. markets: Solana treasury concept stock Upexi (UPXI) plummeted over 60%, closing at $3.97. This company had previously been touted as the 'Solana version of MicroStrategy', but just as it stabilized at a high position, old shareholders took a misstep.
In simple terms, the trigger for the collapse was the sudden registration of 43.85 million resale shares, which coincidentally equaled Upexi's total circulating shares in April. These shares were not newly financed stocks, but rather original subscribers who, seeing the high position unstable, chose to cash out early.
Ironically, just a week ago, Wall Street brokerage Cantor had given this company an 'overweight' rating, setting a target price of $16, reasoning that they were optimistic about Solana replacing Ethereum as the on-chain financial infrastructure.
The script for Upexi is quite clear: it was originally a traditional consumer goods company (selling mushrooms, pet supplies, energy gummies), but this year it suddenly transformed to engage in on-chain treasury, leveraging GSR to raise $100 million in financing, almost fully betting on Solana, resembling a cryptocurrency 'heavy meme'.
But the change came too quickly. The S-1 filing submitted in June showed that investors hoped to resell up to 35.97 million shares, along with 7.89 million shares linked to warrants. Even more surreal, if these warrants are exercised, Upexi can only receive $7,890, while selling the stock yields nothing. The stock price collapse is therefore to be expected.
And this is not an isolated case.
The other two 'Sol treasury stocks' recommended by Cantor are also in dire straits:
Sol Strategies: fell back below 60% of its historical high;
DeFi Development: transformed from a real estate company, recently plummeting 20%, down over 50% from its peak.
Even the 'Ethereum MicroStrategy'—SharpLink Gaming, couldn't hold up. On June 13, after submitting a PIPE stock resale registration statement, it plunged over 70% during the trading day. Consensys CEO Joseph Lubin's efforts to extinguish the fire couldn't save it.
It seems that the earliest players in Sol and ETH treasury stocks have already begun to quietly withdraw.
But FOMO never stops just because others fall into a pit.
New players are frantically taking over; is the BNB treasury concept speculation starting?
On the same day that Upexi collapsed, Nano Labs (NA) announced a convertible bond issuance, aiming to raise $500 million to purchase $1 billion worth of BNB, targeting to hold 5% to 10% of the total BNB supply. The stock price surged 65% in pre-market trading on this news.
On the other hand, the loss-making, near-delisting eye medicine technology company Eyenovia (EYEN) also made a comeback by establishing a 'Hype Reserve' concept, with a PIPE financing announcement causing its stock price to soar 134% in a single day.
In summary: on-chain treasury has become a new narrative for transformation and salvation.
Epilogue: Is the on-chain treasury a collective illusion?
Whether it's Solana, Ethereum, or BNB, an increasing number of traditional U.S. stock companies are donning the guise of 'on-chain asset reserves', using financing to boost the cryptocurrency heat, and then feeding back to raise their stock prices.
However, when the earliest batch of 'MicroStrategy-like companies' begins to be sold off, faces delisting, and has net losses of zero, the ending of the story starts to seem brutal.
Capital does not care about sentiment, only liquidity. Once there are no new stories and no new money, all 'on-chain treasuries' are just illusions from the past hype.
This round of 'coin stock speculation' is far from over, but no matter how exciting the story is, we cannot ignore that the one who buys is always the last one holding the bag.
