Nasdaq-listed Tharimmune (THAR) has raised about $540 million in a private placement led by DRW and Liberty City Ventures, as the biotech firm pivots toward a digital asset treasury (DAT) strategy centered on canton coin (CC), the company said in a press release Monday.
THAR is up roughly 30% on the announcement. The thinly-traded canton coin, the utility token powering the Canton Network, a blockchain designed for institutional finance, is lower by 4%.
The round also drew participation from a wide range of crypto-native and traditional finance players, including ARK Invest, Bitwave, Broadridge, Clear Street, Copper, Digital Asset, Kaiko, Kenetic, Kraken, Lukka, Polychain Capital, Proof Group, SBI Group, and Tradeweb Markets, among others.
The Canton Foundation, which governs the Canton Network, also joined the round, marking Tharimmune as the first publicly traded company directly supported by the Foundation.
The company expects to close the deal around Nov. 6, pending customary conditions. Proceeds will fund the acquisition of canton coin, operational costs, and a plan to run multiple validator nodes on the Canton Network to earn CC rewards.
The Canton Network, backed by major financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs, DTCC, and BNP Paribas, aims to connect traditional financial infrastructure via interoperable smart contracts. The network reportedly processes more than 500,000 daily transactions, signaling growing institutional adoption.
Tharimmune’s biotech operations will continue under its existing team, but the firm appointed Mark Wendland as CEO to lead the treasury initiative and Mark Toomey as president.
Clear Street acted as the sole placement agent and financial advisor for the offering.
Read more: Canton Network Activity Surges as Exchanges Join Validators: Copper Research