CEA Industries, positioned as the world’s largest $BNB treasury company, has seen its value drop by 95 percent since its peak last year, and is blaming the decline on the family office of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ).
In a press release, the company demanded that details of an alleged “secret side agreement” signed between CZ’s family office, YZi Labs, and 10X Capital Asset Management LLC be disclosed.
The agreement is said to coincide with a $500 million PIPE (Private Investment in Public Equity) transaction in July 2025, which saw the company’s shares reach a 52-week and multi-year high of $82.88. 10X Capital, the lead party in the PIPE transaction, also served as the company’s $BNB asset manager.
CEA Industries, whose shares were previously traded on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol VAPE, updated its ticker symbol to BNC in an effort to change its brand orientation to $BNB Network Company. However, this change was not enough to restore investor confidence. The shares are currently trading at $3.88.
CEA Industries was trading electronic goods in Canada before the digital asset treasury (DAT) craze of summer 2025. Despite past attempts at ticker symbol changes and different business models, ranging from CEAD to VAPE, the company had been unable to reverse its multi-year decline from a peak of $873 in 2018 to below $8. By July 2025, it was seeking a new trend and turned to the $BNB treasury model.
In this process, Cantor Fitzgerald stepped in as a financial advisor. Founded by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, Cantor Fitzgerald managed the PIPE process as the lead financial advisor for 10X Capital and the sole placement agent for CEA Industries.
A similar picture emerges at other digital asset treasury companies advised by Cantor Fitzgerald. 10X Capital also served as a financial advisor for Nakamoto, which peaked in May 2025 and subsequently lost 99% of its value. Twenty One shares have fallen 89% since May, while Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company has experienced a 37% drop since July.
Despite this, CEA Industries’ 95% loss is not considered “exceptional” given the overall collapse in the DAT segment.
Russell Read, Chief Investment Officer (CIO) at 10X Capital, was appointed CIO at CEA Industries following the closing of the PIPE transaction. However, he was moved to a non-executive position in September and resigned completely at the end of the year.
The company argues that 10X Capital manages $BNB assets with the “support” of YZi Labs, but the nature of this support is unclear. CEA Industries demands clarification on how and to what extent CZ’s family office is supporting this process.
YZi Labs denies the allegations of a “secret collusion” and this week demanded the retraction of those claims. It also requested that board members Hans Thomas and David Namdar recuse themselves from asset management discussions and announced plans to seek written shareholder approval for a change in management.
Among those who participated in the PIPE investment were leading cryptocurrency funds such as Pantera Capital, GSR, Arrington Capital, Borderless, Blockchain.com, Arche Capital, Hypersphere Capital, Kenetic, and the founders of BitFury. However, after the sharp decline in value, a large portion of these investors faced significant losses.
According to the latest data, CEA shares have lost 41% of their value since the beginning of the year, 67% in the last 12 months, 95% from their 52-week high, and 98% in the last five years.
*This is not investment advice.