Shares of Leap Therapeutics (LPTX) climbed 25% after the microcap cancer drug developer announced a $58.9 million private investment led by Winklevoss Capital to kickstart a crypto treasury strategy.
The investment, structured as a private placement, includes common shares and warrants priced at $0.61439 per unit. Winklevoss Capital, founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, will also gain two board seats at Leap.
Exactly which cryptos would be purchased was not disclosed.
Leap, known for its immuno-oncology therapies, said it will use a portion of the capital to purchase cryptocurrency as part of a longer-term plan to hold crypto on its balance sheet. The rest will support clinical development of its drug candidates.
The deal places Leap among a growing list of public companies using crypto as a treasury reserve. Leap said more details on its digital asset strategy will be announced in the near future and didn’t detail which assets it plans on acquiring.
Shares were higher by 25% in Monday morning trade.