Nasdaq-listed electric car maker Volcon closes $500 million raise for bitcoin treasury strategy

Nasdaq-listed electric vehicle company Volcon announced Monday that it has closed its private placement, securing over $500 million in gross proceeds. 

Volcon is officially launching its bitcoin treasury strategy with 95% of the gross proceeds, with Gemini as its partner, the company said.

The private placement drew participation from a number of crypto venture capital firms and blockchain infrastructure providers, including FalconX, Pantera, Borderless and Relayer Capital. The company said traditional finance investors and its own management team and board of directors also took part in the raise.

"The company intends to build a trusted global bitcoin treasury strategy offering opportunities for investors to invest in the company through additional listings on multiple trading markets," Volcon said in the statement.

In the coming weeks, Volcon plans to rebrand as Empery Digital and trade under the new ticker EMPD. Its powersports vehicle division, Volcon Power Sports, will be renamed Empery Mobility.

For the new bitcoin treasury, Volcon has entered a strategic agreement with Gemini crypto exchange. Net proceeds from the private placement are already accredited in Volcon's custodial accounts at Gemini.

Volcon had already made bitcoin purchases prior to the announcement, currently holding 280.14 BTC. 

Volcon's stock closed down 2.16% at $16.74 on Monday but was up 116.28% over the past five days, according to Yahoo Finance data.

As of July 21, bitcoin treasury companies, excluding Tesla, Coinbase and Block, held a cumulative total of 745,580 BTC ($87.7 billion), with Michael Saylor's Strategy owning 601,550 BTC, according to The Block's data dashboard.