CEA Industries Pivots to Crypto – Plans $1.25B Public BNB Investment Gateway

In a bold and unexpected move, CEA Industries Inc. (VAPE), a small Canadian vape company, has announced a complete business transformation — shifting from nicotine products to cryptocurrency.

The company plans to become a publicly traded BNB treasury with access to up to US$1.25 billion in capital, aiming to be the largest public investment vehicle tied to the BNB Chain.

Surge

News of the pivot sent shockwaves through the market. On Friday, VAPE shares were trading at just US$8.88 (AU$13). By Monday, following the announcement, the price soared nearly six-fold to US$57.50 (AU$87). Though the stock later pulled back to around US$40.98 (AU$62.88) on Tuesday, the rally underscored investor excitement around the new crypto strategy.

For a company that had been relatively obscure, the sudden shift into digital assets has captured wide attention.

Plan

CEA’s crypto pivot centers around building a dedicated treasury of BNB — the native token of the BNB Chain — using traditional capital markets as the funding engine.

The strategy is powered by a US$500 million (AU$768 million) private share placement and up to US$750 million (AU$1.15 billion) in warrants. Combined, this could give CEA access to a staggering US$1.25 billion (AU$1.92 billion) in total capital.

That money will be used to acquire, stake, and lend BNB, effectively creating a public gateway for institutional investors to gain exposure to the BNB Chain — something that’s been mostly out of reach until now.

Partners

Behind the scenes, investment firm 10X Capital and YZi Labs are helping execute the plan. YZi Labs was previously known for branding itself as the family office of Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ), though it’s no longer officially affiliated.

Taking over as CEO is David Namdar, a senior partner at 10X Capital and a co-founder of Galaxy Digital. Namdar brings with him a strong background in digital assets and institutional investment. He positioned the pivot as a game-changing bridge between crypto and traditional finance.

According to Namdar, the BNB Chain remains one of the most active blockchain ecosystems in the world — yet institutional access has remained limited due to regulatory and market structure challenges.

This move, he says, will change that.

Strategy

The idea is simple on paper: CEA will become a U.S.-listed treasury that gives investors clean and transparent exposure to the BNB ecosystem.

Through strategies like staking and lending BNB, the company aims to generate returns, grow its treasury, and offer shareholders value tied directly to the performance of BNB and its broader ecosystem.

This model is similar to public Bitcoin treasury companies like MicroStrategy — but focused exclusively on BNB, which has historically maintained tight brand recognition with Binance since launching in 2017.

Even though Binance has stepped back from direct involvement with the chain, BNB remains at the heart of the ecosystem powering DeFi, NFT platforms, and decentralized apps (dApps).

Token

In the midst of this news, BNB itself surged to a new all-time high above US$858 (AU$1,317) on Monday. Although the price cooled slightly afterward, the rally shows the continued investor interest in major Layer 1 blockchains — especially as new institutional gateways are opening up.

With CEA’s public treasury plan, that access could expand significantly.

Outlook

It’s not every day a vape company transforms into a billion-dollar crypto treasury — but that’s exactly what’s unfolding with CEA Industries. While the plan is ambitious, the team behind it has deep crypto roots, and the market has responded with serious enthusiasm.

If successful, CEA could become the MicroStrategy of BNB, opening a new chapter in how investors access one of the top blockchain networks in the world.

And for institutional players locked out of BNB until now, this could be their first real on-ramp.

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