Mill City Ventures III, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MCVT), a non-bank lender and specialty finance company, announced a $450 million private placement to adopt a Sui (CRYPTO: SUI) treasury strategy, marking a significant shift toward blockchain investment.

The company will allocate 98% of the net proceeds to acquire SUI tokens, the native cryptocurrency of the Sui blockchain, positioning itself as the sole SUI treasury supported by the Sui Foundation.

The private placement involves the sale of 83,025,830 shares of common stock at $5.42 per share, with the closing expected on or about July 31, subject to customary conditions.

Karatage Opportunities, a London-based hedge fund specializing in digital assets, and the Sui Foundation led the investment, joined by prominent firms like Galaxy Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GLXY), Pantera Capital, and Electric Capital.

Galaxy Asset Management will serve as the asset manager.

Mill City will acquire SUI tokens through open market purchases, institutional-grade deal flow, and a negotiated agreement with the Sui Foundation, providing a publicly traded structure with daily liquidity.

This industry-first partnership with the Sui Foundation aims to leverage the blockchain's scalability, speed, and security for applications in stablecoins, AI, gaming, and finance.

Upon closing, Karatage co-founders Marius Barnett and Stephen Mackintosh will assume roles as Chairman of the Board and Chief Investment Officer, respectively.

Also Read: Bitcoin May Turn Range-Bound Soon For These 3 Reasons: 10x Research

Dana Wagner, a former general counsel at Square, will join as an independent board director.

"We’re launching at a pivotal moment when institutional crypto and AI are reaching critical mass," said Stephen Mackintosh, proposed Chief Investment Officer. "Sui is well positioned for mass adoption with the efficiency institutions require."

Christian Thompson, Managing Director at the Sui Foundation, emphasized, "Sui was built to support the next generation of decentralized applications and real-world crypto use-cases."

Mill City will continue its short-term lending and specialty finance operations, allocating 2% of the proceeds to this business.

The securities are offered under an exemption from registration under the Securities Act of 1933, with a registration statement for resale to be filed with the SEC.

Additionally, Marathon Digital Holdings (NASDAQ:MARA) maintains Bitcoin as a treasury asset, per its 2024 financial statements.

Also, BTCS Inc. (NASDAQ:BTCS) on Monday announced it has increased its Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) reserves by 14,240 ($55 million) to 70,028 ETH, citing a fair value of roughly $270 million.

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