Early Bitcoin investor and billionaire Chamath Palihapitiya has filed to lift $250 million in blank-check firm “American Exceptionalism Acquisition Corp A,” concentrating on the decentralized finance, AI, vitality and protection sectors.
The particular function acquisition firm (SPAC) could be led by Social Capital managing associate Steven Trieu as CEO and Palihapitiya as chairman, in response to the registration assertion filed with the US Securities and Trade Fee on Monday.
The $250 million increase seeks to supply 25 million shares at $10 every underneath the ticker AEXA on the New York Inventory Trade.
Palihapitiya and Trieu are betting on decentralized finance, not Bitcoin, to guide the subsequent wave of economic innovation, specializing in options that bridge conventional markets with blockchain know-how:
“Whereas Mr. Palihapitiya has lengthy been a proponent of Bitcoin as an inflation hedge and different to fiat currencies, we consider that the subsequent stage of improvement is the elevated integration between conventional finance and decentralized finance.”
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The pair pointed to the success of stablecoin issuer Circle Web Group’s latest public itemizing, stating it “demonstrated how decentralized finance can be utilized to disintermediate conventional finance intermediaries and supply clear worth for patrons by way of decreased friction.”
The enterprise capitalists acknowledged the trail towards mainstream acceptance of crypto and stablecoins has “taken longer than anticipated,” however that path “now seems to be inevitable.”
Palihapitiya has blended outcomes with previous SPACs
Palihapitiya led a number of high-profile SPACs throughout 2020 and 2021, together with profitable mergers involving Social Capital Suvretta Holdings I and Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings V, now working as SoFi Applied sciences.
Nonetheless, different SPACs led by Palihapitiya, akin to Social Capital Suvretta Holdings II, III, and IV, have been liquidated, giving him a blended document.
SPACs face challenges as a result of they’re sure by strict deadlines to discover a personal firm to merge with, usually wrestle to determine firms worthy of excessive valuations, and function underneath appreciable regulatory scrutiny.
Palihapitiya as soon as denounced crypto as useless in America
The naming of Palihapitiya’s American-themed SPAC comes two years after he declared the crypto trade “Useless in America,” pointing the finger at former SEC chair Gary Gensler for pursuing dozens of high-profile lawsuits in opposition to crypto companies.
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Critics labeled Gensler’s crackdown a part of “Operation Choke Level 2.0” — an alleged coordinated effort by regulators to stress banks into distancing themselves from crypto companies.
A lot of these instances, together with ones in opposition to Coinbase and Ripple, have been dismissed underneath the brand new crypto-friendly SEC led by Paul Atkins, which has additionally created a Crypto Job Pressure to supply clearer guidelines whereas balancing innovation with client safety.
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