EX-99.3 14 tm2526070d1_ex99-3.htm EXHIBIT 99.3

Exhibit 99.3

 

Risks Related to Our Solana and Digital Asset Treasury Strategy

 

Our Solana strategy exposes us to various risks, including risks associated with Solana.

 

Our Solana strategy exposes us to various risks, including the following:

 

Solana is a highly volatile asset. Solana is a highly volatile asset that has traded below $140 per Solana and above $240 per Solana on the Coinbase exchange (a major U.S.-based crypto exchange) in the 12 months preceding the date of this Current Report on Form 8-K to which this exhibit is filed. The trading price of Solana significantly decreased during prior periods, and such declines may occur again in the future.

 

Solana does not pay interest or dividends. Solana does not pay interest or other returns and we can only generate cash from our Solana holdings if we sell our Solana or implement strategies to create income streams or otherwise generate cash by using out Solana holdings. Even if we pursue any such strategies, we may be unable to create income streams or otherwise generate cash from our Solana holdings, and any such strategies may subject us to additional risks.

 

Our Solana holdings may significantly impact our financial results and the market price of our common stock. Our Solana holdings may significantly affect our financial results and if we increase our overall holdings of Solana in the future, may have an even greater impact on our financial results and the market price of our common stock.

 

Our assets will be concentrated in Solana. The vast majority of our assets will be concentrated in our Solana holdings. The concentration of our assets in Solana may limit our ability to mitigate risk that could otherwise be achieved by holding a more diversified portfolio of treasury assets.

 

We intend to purchase Solana using primarily proceeds from equity and debt financing. Our ability to achieve the objectives of our treasury strategy depends in significant part on our ability to obtain equity and debt financing. If we are unable to obtain equity or debt financing on favorable terms or at all, we may not be able to successfully execute on our treasury strategy.

 

Our treasury strategy has not been tested over an extended period of time or under different market conditions. We will implement a treasury strategy following the closing of the private placement. We intend to continually examine the risks and rewards of our strategy to acquire and hold Solana. This strategy has not been tested over an extended period of time or under different market conditions. For example, although we believe Solana, due to its fixed supply, has the potential to serve as a hedge against inflation in the long term, the short-term price of Solana has declined in recent periods during which the inflation rate increased. If Solana prices were to decrease or our Solana strategy otherwise proves unsuccessful, our financial condition, results of operations, and the market price of our common stock would be materially adversely impacted.

 

We will be subject to counterparty risks, including in particular risks relating to exchanges where we intend to purchase Solana and our custodians. Although we have implemented or intend to implement various measures that are designed to mitigate our counterparty risks, including purchasing Solana through reputable U.S.-based third-party exchanges with industry standard policies and procedures and by storing substantially all of the Solana we will own in custody accounts at U.S.-based, institutional-grade custodians and negotiating contractual arrangements intended to establish that our property interest in custodially-held Solana is not subject to claims of our custodians’ creditors, applicable insolvency law is not fully developed with respect to the holding of digital assets in custodial accounts. If our custodially-held Solana were nevertheless considered to be the property of our custodians’ estates in the event that any such custodians were to enter bankruptcy, receivership or similar insolvency proceedings, we could be treated as a general unsecured creditor of such custodians, inhibiting our ability to exercise ownership rights with respect to such Solana, or delaying or hindering our access to our Solana holdings, and this may ultimately result in the loss of the value related to some or all of such Solana, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition as well as the market price of our listed securities.

 

 

 

 

The broader digital assets industry is subject to counterparty risks, which could adversely impact the adoption rate, price, and use of Solana. A series of recent high-profile bankruptcies, closures, liquidations, regulatory enforcement actions and other events relating to companies operating in the digital asset industry have highlighted the counterparty risks applicable to owning and transacting in digital assets. Although these bankruptcies, closures, liquidations and other events have not resulted in any loss or misappropriation of our Solana, nor have such events adversely impacted our access to our Solana, they have, in the short-term, likely negatively impacted the adoption rate and use of Solana. Additional bankruptcies, closures, liquidations, regulatory enforcement actions or other events involving participants in the digital assets industry in the future may further negatively impact the adoption rate, price, and use of Solana, limit the availability to us of financing collateralized by Solana, or create or expose additional counterparty risks.

 

The broader digital assets industry, including the technology associated with digital assets, the rate of adoption and development of, and use cases for, digital assets, market perception of digital assets, and the legal, regulatory, and accounting treatment of digital assets are constantly developing and changing, and there may be additional risks in the future that are not possible to predict.

 

This will be the first digital asset treasury strategy for the Company and our historical financial statements do not reflect the potential variability in earnings that we may experience in the future relating to our treasury strategy and Solana holdings.

 

We intend to implement our treasury strategy immediately. Because we are only beginning to enact our treasury strategy, our historical financial statements do not reflect the potential variability in earnings that we may experience in the future from holding or selling significant amounts of Solana. The price of Solana has historically been subject to dramatic price fluctuations and is highly volatile.

 

Additionally, in the future we may expand our operations beyond the legacy PoNS system and the Solana treasury strategy to include other income streams and otherwise generate funds using our Solana holdings. At this time, we do not have any definitive agreements or plans in place to expand beyond acquiring and holding Solana. However, if we do expand such operations, additional risks related to such strategies and business, including counterparty risks, could arise.

 

Our Solana strategy exposes us to risk of non-performance by counterparties.

 

Our Solana strategy exposes us to the risk of non-performance by counterparties, whether contractual or otherwise. Risk of non-performance includes inability or refusal of a counterparty to perform because of a deterioration in the counterparty’s financial condition and liquidity or for any other reason. For example, our execution partners, custodians, or other counterparties might fail to perform in accordance with the terms of our agreements with them, which could result in a loss of Solana, a loss of the opportunity to generate funds, or other losses.

 

Our primary counterparty risk with respect to our Solana is custodian performance obligations under the custody arrangements we have entered into. A series of relatively recent high-profile bankruptcies, closures, liquidations, regulatory enforcement actions and other events relating to companies operating in the digital asset industry, including the filings for bankruptcy protection by Three Arrows Capital, Celsius Network, Voyager Digital, FTX Trading and Genesis Global Capital, among others, and the filing and subsequent settlement of a civil fraud lawsuit by the New York Attorney General against Genesis Global Capital, its parent company Digital Currency Group, Inc., and former partner Gemini Trust Company have highlighted the perceived and actual counterparty risk applicable to digital asset ownership and trading. Although these bankruptcies, closures and liquidations have not resulted in any loss or misappropriation of our Solana, nor have such events adversely impacted our access to our Solana, legal precedent created in these bankruptcy and other proceedings may increase the risk of future rulings adverse to our interests in the event one or more of our custodians becomes a debtor in a bankruptcy case or is the subject of other liquidation, insolvency or similar proceedings.

 

While our custodians are subject to regulatory regimes intended to protect customers in the event of a custodial bankruptcy, receivership or similar insolvency proceeding, no assurance can be provided that our custodially-held Solana will not become part of the custodian’s insolvency estate if one or more of our custodians enters bankruptcy, receivership or similar insolvency proceedings. Additionally, if we pursue any strategies to create income streams or otherwise generate funds using our Solana holdings, we would become subject to additional counterparty risks. Any significant non-performance by counterparties, including in particular the custodians with which we custody substantially all of our Solana, could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results.

 

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We may be subject to regulatory developments related to crypto assets and crypto asset markets, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

 

As Solana and other digital assets are relatively novel and the application of state and federal securities laws and other laws and regulations to digital assets is unclear in certain respects, it is possible that regulators in the United States or foreign countries may interpret or apply existing laws and regulations in a manner that adversely affects the price of Solana. The U.S. federal government, states, regulatory agencies, and foreign countries may also enact new laws and regulations, or pursue regulatory, legislative, enforcement or judicial actions, that could materially impact the price of Solana or the ability of individuals or institutions such as us to own or transfer Solana.

 

If Solana is determined to constitute a security for purposes of the federal securities laws, the additional regulatory restrictions imposed by such a determination could adversely affect the market price of Solana and in turn adversely affect the market price of our common stock. Moreover, the risks of us engaging in a Solana treasury strategy have created, and could continue to create complications due to the lack of experience that third parties have with companies engaging in such a strategy, such as increased costs of director and officer liability insurance or the potential inability to obtain such coverage on acceptable terms in the future.

 

Our Solana strategy subjects us to enhanced regulatory oversight.

 

As noted above, several spot Solana exchange-traded products (“ETPs”) have received approval from the SEC to list their shares on a U.S. national securities exchange with continuous share creation and redemption at net asset value. Even though we are not, and do not function in the manner of, a spot Solana ETP, it is possible that we nevertheless could face regulatory scrutiny from the SEC or other federal or state agencies due to our Solana holdings.

 

In addition, there has been increasing focus on the extent to which digital assets can be used to launder the proceeds of illegal activities, fund criminal or terrorist activities, or circumvent sanctions regimes, including those sanctions imposed in response to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. While we have implemented or intend to implement and maintain policies and procedures reasonably designed to promote compliance with applicable anti-money laundering and sanctions laws and regulations and take care to only acquire our Solana through entities subject to anti-money laundering regulation and related compliance rules in the United States, if we are found to have purchased any of our Solana from bad actors that have used Solana to launder money or persons subject to sanctions, we may be subject to regulatory proceedings and any further transactions or dealings in Solana by us may be restricted or prohibited.

 

Although our Solana holdings do not currently serve as collateral securing any of our outstanding indebtedness as of the date hereof, we may incur indebtedness or enter into other financial instruments in the future that may be collateralized by our Solana holdings. We may also consider pursuing strategies to create income streams or otherwise generate funds using our Solana holdings. These types of Solana-related transactions are the subject of enhanced regulatory oversight. These and any other Solana-related transactions we may enter into, beyond simply acquiring and holding Solana, may subject us to additional regulatory compliance requirements and scrutiny, including under Federal and state money services regulations, money transmitter licensing requirements and various commodity and securities laws and regulations.

 

Additional laws, guidance and policies may be issued by domestic and foreign regulators following the filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection by FTX, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, in November 2022. While the financial and regulatory fallout from FTX’s collapse did not directly impact our business, financial condition or corporate assets, the FTX collapse may have increased regulatory focus on the digital assets industry. Increased enforcement activity and changes in the regulatory environment, including changing interpretations and the implementation of new or varying regulatory requirements by the government or any new legislation affecting Solana, as well as enforcement actions involving or impacting our trading venues, counterparties and custodians, may impose significant costs or significantly limit our ability to hold and transact in Solana.

 

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In addition, private actors that are wary of Solana or the regulatory concerns associated with Solana have in the past taken and may in the future take further actions that may have an adverse effect on our business or the market price of our listed securities.

 

Regulatory change reclassifying Solana as a security could lead to our classification as an “investment company” under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and could adversely affect the market price of Solana and the market price of our common stock.

 

Under Sections 3(a)(1)(A) and (C) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”), a company generally will be deemed to be an “investment company” for purposes of the 1940 Act if (1) it is, or holds itself out as being, engaged primarily, or proposes to engage primarily, in the business of investing, reinvesting or trading in securities or (2) it engages, or proposes to engage, in the business of investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading in securities and it owns or proposes to acquire investment securities having a value exceeding 40% of the value of its total assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. We do not believe that we are an “investment company,” as such term is defined in the 1940 Act, and are not registered as an “investment company” under the 1940 Act as of the date of this Current Report on Form 8-K.

 

A significant portion of our assets will be concentrated in our Solana holdings. While senior SEC officials have not stated their view as to whether Solana is or is not a “security” for purposes of the federal securities laws, a contrary determination by the SEC, or a determination that our Solana is being offered and sold as a security, could lead to our classification as an “investment company” under the 1940 Act, if the portion of our assets consists of investments in Solanas exceeds 40% safe harbor limits prescribed in the 1940 Act, which would subject us to significant additional regulatory controls that could have a material adverse effect on our business and operations and our ability to execute our treasury strategy and may also require us to change the manner in which we conduct our business.

 

We monitor our assets and income for compliance under the 1940 Act and seek to conduct our business activities in a manner such that we do not fall within its definitions of “investment company” or that we qualify under one of the exemptions or exclusions provided by the 1940 Act and corresponding SEC regulations. Furthermore, if Solana is determined to constitute a security for purposes of the federal securities laws, we would take steps to reduce the percentage of Solanas that constitute investment assets under the 1940 Act. These steps may include, among others, selling Solanas that we might otherwise hold for the long term and deploying our cash in non-investment assets, and we may be forced to sell our Solanas at unattractive prices. We may also seek to acquire additional non-investment assets to maintain compliance with the 1940 Act, and we may need to incur debt, issue additional equity or enter into other financing arrangements that are not otherwise attractive to our business. Any of these actions could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. Moreover, we can make no assurance that we would successfully be able to take the necessary steps to avoid being deemed to be an investment company in accordance with the safe harbor. If we were unsuccessful, and if Solana is determined to constitute a security for purposes of the federal securities laws, then we would have to register as an investment company, and the additional regulatory restrictions imposed by 1940 Act could adversely affect the market price of Solana and in turn adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

 

In the future we may expand our business beyond the PoNS system and the treasury strategy to include other income streams and otherwise generate funds using our Solana holdings, including acquiring interests in other entities. At this time, we do not have any definitive agreements or plans in place to expand beyond acquiring and holding Solana. However, if we do acquire minority interests in other entities, this could lead to our classification as an “investment company”, which would subject us to additional regulatory controls and could have a material adverse impact on our results of operations.

 

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We are not subject to legal and regulatory obligations that apply to investment companies such as mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, or to obligations applicable to investment advisers.

 

Mutual funds, ETFs and their directors and management are subject to extensive regulation as “investment companies” and “investment advisers” under U.S. federal and state law; this regulation is intended for the benefit and protection of investors. We are not subject to, and do not otherwise voluntarily comply with, these laws and regulations. This means, among other things, that the execution of or changes to our Treasury Reserve Policy or our Solana strategy, our use of leverage, the manner in which our Solana is custodied, our ability to engage in transactions with affiliated parties and our operating and investment activities generally are not subject to the extensive legal and regulatory requirements and prohibitions that apply to investment companies and investment advisers. Our board of directors has broad discretion over the investment, leverage and cash management policies it authorizes, whether in respect of our Solana holdings or other activities we may pursue, and has the power to change our current policies, including our strategy of acquiring and holding Solana.

 

The lack of legal recourse and insurance for digital assets increases the risk of total loss in the event of theft or destruction.

 

Digital assets that we acquire will not be insured against theft, loss or destruction. If an event occurs where we lose our digital assets, whether due to cyberattacks, fraud or other malicious activities, we may not have any viable legal recourse or ability to recover the lost assets. Unlike funds held in insured banking institutions, our digital assets are not protected by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or the Securities Investor Protection Corporation. If our digital assets are lost under circumstances that render another party liable, there is no guarantee that the responsible party will have the financial resources to compensate us. As a result, we and our stockholders could face significant financial losses.

 

Digital asset lending arrangements may expose us to risks of borrower default, operational failures and cybersecurity threats.

 

Although we are not initially planning to lend our digital assets, from time to time, we may generate income through lending of digital assets, which carries significant risks. The volatility of such digital assets increases the likelihood that borrowers may default due to market downturns, liquidity crises, fraud or other financial distress. These lending transactions may be unsecured and so may be subordinated to secured debt of the borrower. If a borrower becomes insolvent, we may be unable to recover the loaned bitcoin, leading to substantial financial losses.

 

Additionally, digital asset lending platforms are vulnerable to operational and cybersecurity risks. Technical failures, software bugs or system outages could disrupt lending activities, delay transactions or result in inaccurate record-keeping. Cybersecurity threats, including hacking, phishing and other malicious attacks, pose further risks, potentially leading to the loss, theft or misappropriation of our loaned bitcoin. A successful cyberattack or security breach could materially and adversely impact our financial position, reputation and ability to conduct future lending activities.

 

We will be subject to significant competition in the growing digital asset industry and our business, operating results, and financial condition may be adversely affected if we are unable to compete effectively.

 

Following the launch of our proposed digital asset treasury strategy, we will operate in a competitive environment and will compete against other companies and other entities with similar strategies, including companies with significant holdings in Solana and other digital assets, and our business, operating results, and financial condition may be adversely affected if we are unable to compete effectively.

 

Staking Solana may limit our liquidity and restrict our ability to access capital in a timely manner.

 

As part of our digital asset treasury strategy, we may stake a portion of our Solana holdings with validators in order to earn staking rewards. Staked tokens are generally subject to “lock-up” or “unbonding” periods during which they cannot be transferred, traded, or otherwise used. Although such lock-up periods are intended to protect the stability of the protocol, they may materially reduce our immediate access to liquidity. If we need to liquidate our Solana holdings to meet operational requirements, satisfy obligations, or respond to adverse market conditions, the inability to rapidly access staked tokens could adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows. Furthermore, because staking rewards are paid in additional Solana tokens, rather than cash, our ability to convert those rewards into fiat currency may depend on prevailing market liquidity and trading volumes for Solana, which could be volatile or insufficient at times.

 

Our financial results and the market price of our common stock may be affected by the prices of Solana.

 

As part of our capital allocation strategy for assets that are not required to provide working capital for our ongoing operations, we have invested and will continue to invest in Solana tokens. The price of Solana has historically been subject to dramatic price fluctuations and is highly volatile. Moreover, digital assets, such as Solana, are relatively novel and the application of securities laws and other regulations to such assets is unclear in many respects. It is possible that regulators may interpret laws in a manner that adversely affects the liquidity or value of Solana.

 

Any decrease in the fair value of Solana below our carrying value for such assets could require us to incur a loss due to the decrease in fair market value, and such charge could be material to our financial results for the applicable reporting period, which may create significant volatility in our reported earnings. Any decrease in reported earnings or increased volatility of such earnings could have a material adverse effect on the market price of our common stock. In addition, the application of generally accepted accounting principles in the United States, with respect to Solana, may change in the future and could have a material adverse effect on our financial results and the market price of our common stock.

 

In addition, if investors view the value of our common stock as dependent upon or linked to the value or change in the value of our Solana holdings, the price of Solana may significantly influence the market price of our common stock. Additionally, if the price of Solana falls, and our common stock price falls as a result, then the Notes may not be converted and we may, in certain situations, need to repay them in cash. To the extent the value of the Notes exceeds the value of the Solana held as collateral, we may need to obtain additional financing, which might not be available on satisfactory terms or at all. Any deficiency could substantially exceed the value of our other assets and could be many multiples of our historical earnings.

 

Due to the unregulated nature and lack of transparency surrounding the operations of many Solana trading venues, Solana trading venues may experience greater fraud, security failures or regulatory or operational problems than trading venues for more established asset classes, which may result in a loss of confidence in Solana trading venues and adversely affect the value of our Solana.

 

Solana trading venues are relatively new and, in many cases, unregulated. Furthermore, there are many Solana trading venues which do not provide the public with significant information regarding their ownership structure, management teams, corporate practices and regulatory compliance. As a result, the marketplace may lose confidence in Solana trading venues, including prominent exchanges that handle a significant volume of Solana trading and/or are subject to regulatory oversight, in the event one or more Solana trading venues cease or pause for a prolonged period the trading of Solana or other digital assets, or experience fraud, significant volumes of withdrawal, security failures or operational problems.

 

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The SEC has also brought recent actions against individuals and digital asset market participants alleging that such persons artificially increased trading volumes in certain digital assets through wash trades, or repeated buying and selling of the same assets in fictitious transactions to manipulate their underlying trading price. Such reports and allegations may indicate that the Solana market is significantly smaller than expected and that the United States makes up a significantly larger percentage of the Solana market than is commonly understood. Any actual or perceived wash trading in the Solana market, and any other fraudulent or manipulative acts and practices, could adversely affect the value of our Solana. Negative perception, a lack of stability in the broader Solana markets and the closure, temporary shutdown or operational disruption of Solana trading venues, lending institutions, institutional investors, institutional miners, custodians, or other major participants in the Solana ecosystem, due to fraud, business failure, cybersecurity events, government-mandated regulation, bankruptcy, or for any other reason, may result in a decline in confidence in Solana and the broader Solana ecosystem and greater volatility in the price of Solana. As the price of our listed securities is affected by the value of our Solana holdings, the failure of a major participant in the Solana ecosystem could have a material adverse effect on the market price of our listed securities.

 

The concentration of our Solana holdings enhances the risks inherent in our Solana strategy.

 

We have and intend to purchase Solana and increase our overall holdings of Solana in the future. The intended concentration of our Solana holdings limits the risk mitigation that we could achieve if we were to purchase a more diversified portfolio of treasury assets, and the absence of diversification enhances the risks inherent in our Solana strategy. The price of Solana experienced a significant decline in 2022, and any similar future significant declines in the price of Solana could have a more pronounced impact on our financial condition than if we used our cash to purchase a more diverse portfolio of assets.

 

We face risks relating to the use of third-party exchanges in connection with our Solana strategy.

 

We intend to use third-parties exchanges, which we believe are reputable, such as Kraken, Anchorage and Coinbase, to purchase Solana for our treasury. As part of our process in determining transactions with third-party exchanges, we search for reputable exchanges that have industry standard policies and procedures in place regarding data security and customer diligence related to anti-money laundering (“AML”), Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) and know-your client (“KYC”) rules and regulations. If any of these third-party exchanges no longer meet our standards or if there is a decrease in reputable third-party exchanges, we may need to find additional counterparties and enter into additional agreements that could be on less favorable terms, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or the results of our operations.

 

We face risks relating to the custody of our Solana tokens, including the loss or destruction of private keys required to access our Solana tokens and cyberattacks or other data loss relating to our Solana tokens, including smart contract related losses and vulnerabilities.

 

We hold our Solana tokens with a single regulated custodian that has duties to safeguard our private keys. In light of the significant amount of Solana tokens we anticipate that we will hold, we may need to engage additional custodians to achieve a greater degree of diversification in the custody of our Solana tokens as the extent of potential risk of loss is dependent, in part, on the degree of diversification. However, multiple custodians may utilize similar wallet infrastructure, cloud service providers or software systems, which could increase systemic technology risk.

 

If there is a decrease in the availability of digital asset custodians that we believe can safely custody our Solana tokens, for example, due to regulatory developments or enforcement actions that cause custodians to discontinue or limit their services in the United States, we may need to enter into agreements that are less favorable than our current agreements or take other measures to custody our Solana tokens, and our ability to seek a greater degree of diversification in the use of custodial services would be materially adversely affected. While we will conduct due diligence on our custodians and any smart contract platforms we may use, there can be no assurance that such diligence will uncover all risks, including operational deficiencies, hidden vulnerabilities or legal noncompliance.

 

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Currently, the insurance that covers losses of our Solana holdings may cover none or only a small fraction of the value of the entirety of our Solana holdings, and there can be no guarantee that such insurance will be maintained as part of the custodial services we have or that such coverage will cover losses with respect to our Solana. Moreover, our use of custodians exposes us to the risk that the Solana our custodians hold on our behalf could be subject to insolvency proceedings and we could be treated as a general unsecured creditor of the custodian, inhibiting our ability to exercise ownership rights with respect to such Solana. Any loss associated with such insolvency proceedings is unlikely to be covered by any insurance coverage we maintain related to our Solana. The legal framework governing digital asset ownership and rights in custodial or insolvency contexts remains uncertain and continues to evolve, which could result in unexpected losses, protracted recovery processes or adverse treatment in insolvency proceedings.

 

Solana tokens are controllable only by the possessor of both the unique public key and private key(s) relating to the local or online digital wallet in which the Solana is held. While the Solana blockchain ledger requires a public key relating to a digital wallet to be published when used in a transaction, private keys must be safeguarded and kept private in order to prevent a third party from accessing the Solana held in such wallet. To the extent the private key(s) for a digital wallet are lost, destroyed, or otherwise compromised and no backup of the private key(s) is accessible, neither we nor our custodians will be able to access the Solana held in the related digital wallet. Furthermore, we cannot provide assurance that our digital wallets, nor the digital wallets of our custodians held on our behalf, will not be compromised as a result of a cyberattack. The Solana and blockchain ledger, as well as other digital assets and blockchain technologies, have been, and may in the future be, subject to security breaches, cyberattacks, or other malicious activities.

 

As part of our treasury management strategy, we may engage in staking, restaking, or other permitted activities that involve the use of “smart contracts” or decentralized applications. The use of smart contracts or decentralized applications entails certain risks including risks stemming from the existence of an “admin key” or coding flaws that could be exploited, potentially allowing a bad actor to issue or otherwise compromise the smart contract or decentralized application, potentially leading to a loss of our Solana tokens. Like all software code, smart contracts are exposed to risk that the code contains a bug or other security vulnerability, which can lead to loss of assets that are held on or transacted through the contract or decentralized application. Smart contracts and decentralized applications may contain bugs, security vulnerabilities or poorly designed permission structures that could result in the irreversible loss of Solana tokens or other digital assets. Exploits, including those stemming from admin key misuse, admin key compromise, or protocol flaws, have occurred in the past and may occur in the future.

 

Our Solana holdings are and will be less liquid than our existing cash and cash equivalents and may not be able to serve as a source of liquidity for us to the same extent as cash and cash equivalents.

 

Historically, the Solana market has been characterized by significant volatility in price, limited liquidity and trading volumes compared to sovereign currencies markets, relative anonymity, a developing regulatory landscape, potential susceptibility to market abuse and manipulation, compliance and internal control failures at exchanges, and various other risks inherent in its entirely electronic, virtual form and decentralized network. During times of market instability, we may not be able to sell our Solana at favorable prices or at all. For example, a number of Solana trading venues temporarily halted deposits and withdrawals in 2022, although the Coinbase exchange (a major U.S.-based crypto exchange) has, to date, not done so. As a result, our Solana holdings may not be able to serve as a source of liquidity for us to the same extent as cash and cash equivalents. Further, Solana we hold with our custodians and transact with our trade execution partners will not enjoy the same protections as are available to cash or securities deposited with or transacted by institutions subject to regulation by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or the Securities Investor Protection Corporation. Additionally, we may be unable to enter into term loans or other capital raising transactions collateralized by our unencumbered Solana or otherwise generate funds using our Solana holdings, including in particular during times of market instability or when the price of Solana has declined significantly. If we are unable to sell our Solana, enter into additional capital raising transactions, including capital raising transactions using Solana as collateral, or otherwise generate funds using our Solana holdings, or if we are forced to sell our Solana at a significant loss, in order to meet our working capital requirements, our business and financial condition could be negatively impacted.

 

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If we or our third-party service providers experience a security breach or cyberattack and unauthorized parties obtain access to our Solana, or if our private keys are lost or destroyed, or other similar circumstances or events occur, we may lose some or all of our Solana and our financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.

 

Substantially all of the Solana we own is held in custody accounts at U.S.-based institutional-grade digital asset custodians. Security breaches and cyberattacks are of particular concern with respect to our Solana. Solana and other blockchain-based cryptocurrencies and the entities that provide services to participants in the Solana ecosystem have been, and may in the future be, subject to security breaches, cyberattacks, or other malicious activities. For example, in October 2021 it was reported that hackers exploited a flaw in the account recovery process and stole from the accounts of at least 6,000 customers of the Coinbase exchange, although the flaw was subsequently fixed and Coinbase reimbursed affected customers. Similarly, in November 2022, hackers exploited weaknesses in the security architecture of the FTX Trading digital asset exchange and reportedly stole over $400 million in digital assets from customers. A successful security breach or cyberattack could result in:

 

·a partial or total loss of our Solana in a manner that may not be covered by insurance or the liability provisions of the custody agreements with the custodians who hold our Solana;

 

·harm to our reputation and brand;

 

·improper disclosure of data and violations of applicable data privacy and other laws; or

 

·significant regulatory scrutiny, investigations, fines, penalties, and other legal, regulatory, contractual and financial exposure.

 

Further, any actual or perceived data security breach or cybersecurity attack directed at other companies with digital assets or companies that operate digital asset networks, regardless of whether we are directly impacted, could lead to a general loss of confidence in the broader Solana ecosystem or in the use of the Solana network to conduct financial transactions, which could negatively impact the market price of Solana and in turn negatively impact our financial condition and results of operations and the market price of our common stock.

 

Attacks upon systems across a variety of industries, including industries related to Solana, are increasing in frequency, persistence, and sophistication, and, in many cases, are being conducted by sophisticated, well-funded and organized groups and individuals, including state actors. The techniques used to obtain unauthorized, improper or illegal access to systems and information (including personal data and digital assets), disable or degrade services, or sabotage systems are constantly evolving, may be difficult to detect quickly, and often are not recognized or detected until after they have been launched against a target. These attacks may occur on our systems or those of our third-party service providers or partners. We may experience breaches of our security measures due to human error, malfeasance, insider threats, system errors or vulnerabilities or other irregularities. In particular, we expect that unauthorized parties will attempt to gain access to our systems and facilities, as well as those of our partners and third-party service providers, through various means, such as hacking, social engineering, phishing and fraud. Threats can come from a variety of sources, including criminal hackers, hacktivists, state-sponsored intrusions, industrial espionage, and insiders. In addition, certain types of attacks could harm us even if our systems are left undisturbed. For example, certain threats are designed to remain dormant or undetectable, sometimes for extended periods of time, or until launched against a target and we may not be able to implement adequate preventative measures. Further, there has been an increase in such activities due to the increase in work-from-home arrangements. The risk of cyberattacks could also be increased by cyberwarfare in connection with ongoing or future armed conflicts, including potential proliferation of malware into systems unrelated to such conflicts. Any future breach of our operations or those of others in the Solana industry, including third-party services on which we rely, could materially and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

 

We face other risks related to our Solana treasury reserve business model.

 

Our Solana treasury reserve business model exposes us to various risks, including the following:

 

·Solana and other digital assets are subject to significant legal, commercial, regulatory, and technical uncertainty, and our Solana strategy subjects us to enhanced regulatory oversight;

 

·regulatory changes could impact our ability to operate validators or receive rewards;

 

·regulatory scrutiny of the Company’s activities may increase, potentially limiting our operations;

 

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·potential litigation risks exist related to smart contract vulnerabilities, validator operations, or our business activities;

 

·uncertainty around Solana’s regulatory status may impact our ability to list on certain exchanges;

 

·changes in political administration may not guarantee a favorable regulatory environment for Solana; and

 

·increased regulatory focus on Layer-1 blockchains beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum could result in new compliance requirements.

 

The foregoing factors could lead to disruption in the market for Solana, which could adversely affect the market price of Solana and in turn adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

 

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