Author: Lesley
Source: MetaEra
The Web 3.0 strategies and layouts of publicly listed companies have become a hot topic of increasing public interest. Against this backdrop, MetaEra officially launches the ++“Interviews with Executives of Crypto Concept Stocks”++ series. We will engage in conversations with those pioneering business leaders in the wave of digital transformation, exploring their strategic layouts, business innovations, and financial innovations from the first-person perspective of decision-makers, providing forward-looking insights for industry participants.

On August 4, Verb Technology Company (Nasdaq: VERB) announced the completion of approximately $558 million in PIPE private financing, planning to collaborate with Kingsway Capital to establish the first publicly listed Toncoin ($TON) treasury company, which will be renamed TON Strategy Company. Following Strategy's pioneering Bitcoin treasury strategy, the crypto asset treasury (DAT) model has systematically expanded to emerging public chain ecosystems, providing institutional investors with a compliant channel to enter the TON ecosystem.

Verb Technology announces $558 million private placement, plans to establish the first listed TON treasury company
The key figure in this transaction, Manny Stotz (also known as Manuel Stotz, hereinafter referred to as Manny), as the founder of Kingsway Capital, manages approximately $5 billion in assets, focusing on frontier market investments. Three and a half years ago, he became one of the largest investors in TON tokens and has served as a board member since the establishment of the TON Foundation, serving as the chairman of the foundation from the beginning of this year until yesterday. He currently serves as the Executive Chairman of TON Strategy Company (Nasdaq: VERB).
In this online dialogue, MetaEra's CEO Jessica and Manny jointly explored the core logic of the crypto asset treasury (DAT) model, the strategic value of the TON ecosystem, and the profound impact this business model may have on the entire cryptocurrency industry. Below are the core contents of the interview.

Theoretical Basis and Practical Logic of the Crypto Asset Treasury Model

With the Bitcoin national strategic reserve initiated by Trump and the wave of Bitcoin hoarding among publicly listed companies sparked by Michael Saylor, the crypto asset treasury model has gradually gained traction among publicly listed companies. An increasing number of Web 3.0 builders are joining or collaborating with publicly listed companies to promote the development of this emerging model. As the first TON treasury company, TON Strategy Company's strategy is deeply inspired by pioneers of cryptocurrency treasury strategies like Strategy, forming its unique business model.
Three Core Logics for the Success of the Crypto Asset Treasury Model
Manny pointed out that the role of Michael Saylor and his Strategy in the Bitcoin market should not be underestimated, as they have even changed the evolution of this round of the crypto market cycle. The exceptionally strong performance of Bitcoin is primarily driven by the influx of institutional capital—including the Bitcoin ETF launched last year and the Bitcoin treasury strategy led by Saylor. Without the support of these institutional funds, Bitcoin would struggle to achieve its current strong position.
He also mentioned that treasury companies for Ethereum have similarly had a profound impact on the market trends of Ethereum, driving up spot prices and fostering ecosystem prosperity. Manny believes it is crucial to analyze this phenomenon. Below are the three main reasons Manny summarized for the success of the crypto asset treasury model.
1. The crypto asset treasury model bridges the significant gap in capital accessibility
Manny pointed out that the global capital available for investing in U.S. stocks far exceeds the capital that can enter the crypto market. "There may be over 100 times the amount of capital that can flow into U.S. stocks compared to cryptocurrencies, even for blue-chip tokens like Bitcoin and Ethereum, which face the same limitations," Manny stated.
He further noted that, taking TON as an example, this gap could even be magnified to 1000 times. "TON tokens have not yet been listed on mainstream U.S. exchanges—whether it's Coinbase, Robinhood, or Gemini, even South Korea's largest Upbit exchange has not listed them."
As a result, the market liquidity of TON and the entry of institutional funds have been restricted. This also explains why many related companies have long traded at a premium above book value (Book Value) and net asset value (NAV).
2. The crypto asset treasury model is the holy grail of investment
Manny further analyzed that the so-called "perpetual capital" is fundamentally about long-term investment and long-term compounding, which is the "holy grail" of investing, fundamentally different from traditional ETF structures. He explained, "If an investor sells an ETF, the ETF must simultaneously sell the tokens it holds; but if an investor sells shares of Strategy or VERB, the stock price may drop, but the tokens remain securely in the company's treasury."
In his view, this structural advantage not only avoids the risk of passive selling but also provides investors with the space to leverage market volatility. "By issuing shares at a premium and repurchasing tokens at a discount, the company can continuously enhance its book value per share (BVPS)." He referred to this model as "harvesting volatility," essentially using market fluctuations to create value, which is also the capital operation method that Michael Saylor has long adhered to.
Manny also emphasized the additional advantages under PoS protocols: "For all proof-of-stake (PoS) networks, you can stake and be included in indices, which ETFs cannot do. ETFs cannot trade at a premium or discount, cannot become perpetual capital, and must be forced to sell assets upon redemption."
3. The crypto asset treasury model has a winner-takes-all scale effect
Saylor has always emphasized that the reserves of crypto asset treasuries represent a "winner-takes-all" competition, where the ultimate winner will control most of the market share. Manny strongly agrees and states that the key to determining the outcome lies in acquiring low-cost capital—this capital advantage not only brings scale effects but also continuously reinforces itself like a network effect.
He cited an example: "Saylor's company is 30 times larger than the second-largest Bitcoin treasury company. Although the second place may perform well, the competitive advantage of low-cost capital allows Saylor to solidify his dominant position through scale effects, making it difficult for others to catch up."
This has already been proven. Through efficient capital allocation, Saylor has indirectly driven the price of Bitcoin up tenfold over the past five years while also causing Strategy's stock price to soar thirtyfold, even outperforming Nvidia during the AI boom. Behind this performance is the leverage effect between capital operation efficiency and market volatility.
For TON Strategy Company, Manny believes that through the same "strategic capital allocation," the company is expected to achieve performance that exceeds the market average, especially as crypto assets gradually mature. "Of course, all of this depends on the performance of the underlying assets," he added, "If you have no confidence in these underlying assets, such as doubts about the prospects of TON, then do not buy our stock. But if you are optimistic about TON, we are confident that through intelligent capital allocation, we can outperform Strategy."
Building an "Unkillable" Crypto Treasury: Three Golden Rules
"The crypto asset treasury strategy requires very detailed and thoughtful structured design," Manny emphasized, "The market is filled with some loosely structured and shallowly thought-out crypto asset treasury companies," Manny candidly pointed out, "Some low-quality projects may ultimately fail."
Golden Rule 1: Stay Away from Leverage, Maintain Equity Financing
Manny quoted Charlie Munger's famous saying: "There are three things that can bankrupt smart people—women, alcohol, and leverage. Even if you think the first two are not a big deal, you must absolutely stay away from leverage." Manny emphasized, "Our strategy is 100% common equity financing, and we never use hard financial leverage."
The importance of this principle is particularly highlighted in the extreme volatility of the crypto market. Not using leverage means that even in the most severe market downturns, the company will not face the risk of forced liquidation.
Golden Rule 2: Ensure Positive Cash Flow, Leverage Scale Effects
"Perhaps it sounds a bit old-fashioned, but I always adhere to one principle: income minus expenses must be greater than zero, at least maintaining profitability at the cash flow level," Manny firmly believes. He illustrated this with his investment management business at Kingsway: "We basically only need five or six people to manage $5 billion in assets. When the scale you manage expands from $100 million to $10 billion, the capital grows a hundredfold, but costs do not necessarily scale up a hundredfold. Of course, we have more sophisticated operations and backend support, but overall expenses remain controllable."
In the crypto treasury model, staking becomes a stable income engine. "The largest expense is personnel costs, but you can completely pay with stock, which does not count as cash outflow. If all income comes from staking, you can build your own staking infrastructure or earn income through delegated staking—instantly creating a massive income stream. Even if you only charge a very small percentage of staking fees, once the base is large enough, the final result will still be a considerable income stream." This strategy of building infrastructure avoids excessive reliance on external income while achieving effective cost control through scale effects.
Golden Rule 3: Retain Cash Buffers, Build Strong Safety Margins
"In the crypto world, the value of fiat currency is often underestimated, but holding cash reserves is always a wise move," Manny emphasized.
He suggested that companies should retain at least two years' worth of operating expenses as cash reserves to cope with market bubbles or sudden downturns. "During market declines, cash buffers can prevent you from becoming a 'naked swimmer'—remember, never leave yourself without a backup."
Manny concluded, "If you adhere to these three golden rules, you can operate without leverage, maintain profitability, and have cash buffers. Even if the external environment undergoes drastic fluctuations, the company can maintain a basic safety margin."
The true power of these strategies often reveals itself during market cycle transitions. In the next bear market, market premiums will first shrink to zero and may then turn to discounts. "What if the stock price experiences a 20%, 30%, or even 50% discount?" Manny's answer is straightforward:
"First, wait and see. Adhering to the golden rules means the company is debt-free and profitable; management can even 'peacefully go fishing in Alaska' and return in a year or two to find everything intact.
Second, actively repurchase. Using cash buffers to repurchase shares during discounts not only stabilizes market confidence but also effectively enhances book value per share.
Third, choose flexibly. In extreme situations, you can choose—not be forced—to sell some tokens and then repurchase shares, further boosting book value per share."
He emphasized that the key is to maintain control. "Avoid becoming a forced seller; that is the true survival bottom line." In his view, this set of principles allows companies to advance and retreat flexibly during cyclical fluctuations, enabling them to respond to short-term shocks while steadily progressing in the long term.

Strategic Positioning and Ecological Value of TON Strategy Company

Manny divides the value of VERB into two core dimensions: the capital flywheel and the narrative flywheel. He believes that VERB is not only the capital hub of TON but also an amplifier for promoting the globalization of the ecological narrative.
Capital Flywheel: Building a Compliant Channel for Institutional Investment
When discussing the strategic significance of being listed on Nasdaq, Manny's tone revealed confidence. "In March, we announced a $400 million financing for TON, and the funds raised by VERB in one month exceeded the total amount raised by the TON ecosystem in the past two years," he said, "We were able to grow from zero to a Nasdaq-listed company with a market value of $1 billion in just one month, thanks to the unique scale advantages and liquidity depth of the U.S. capital market."
This difference in capital accessibility opens up new investor groups for VERB. He explained, "We have the support of existing shareholders who have already invested in TON, and we also attract new funds, including Telegram bondholders and large traditional financial institutions. They understand Telegram, hold convertible bonds, and have already analyzed and underwritten the relevant equity."
In his view, the capital size of these investors determines the market's potential. Some institutions place single orders as high as $30 million to $50 million, but for funds managing $30 billion, this is merely a "small investment." Manny summarized, "These hedge funds and institutional investors cannot directly buy tokens, but they can easily buy stocks."
When asked whether buying VERB is equivalent to buying "Telegram stock," Manny cautiously responded, "Of course not. Telegram is a private company, but if you want exposure to Telegram through equity, VERB should be the only choice in the world."
The value of the crypto asset treasury strategy lies in this—it transforms capital that originally could not enter the crypto market into a flywheel for promoting the TON ecosystem.
Narrative Flywheel: Reshaping the Global Discourse of the TON Ecosystem
In Manny's view, the significance of VERB goes far beyond being a capital allocation tool; it is also an amplifier for the narrative of the TON ecosystem. Manny candidly admitted that TON has not done enough in storytelling. He said, "Crypto asset treasuries can not only drive the capital flywheel—continuously financing and buying more TON to make the flywheel spin faster; they can also drive the narrative flywheel, making the story of TON louder."
He particularly emphasized the cognitive advantage of the narrative of TON's "super application" in Asia. "Tencent became the first trillion-dollar company in Asia thanks to WeChat as an entry point, layering payment, finance, money market funds, and gaming ecosystems. Today, WeChat Pay and Alipay have surpassed Visa and Mastercard in scale."
In his view, Telegram's true competitors are not Ethereum or Solana, but super platforms like Meta (valued at $1.9 trillion), Tencent, ByteDance, and Snap. "Telegram may not enter the 'Big Seven' of U.S. stocks, but it is likely to rank among the top fifteen or twenty. After all, it is the world's largest open distribution platform with 1 billion active users, and it is still growing." Therefore, VERB's presence in the capital market is not only a financing channel but also an "amplifier" for taking the narrative of TON to global investors.
In the context of the dual drive of capital and narrative, Manny further pushed the topic toward the future. He not only positions VERB as the capital hub and narrative amplifier of TON but also showcases ambitions that surpass previous experiences.
In the context of the dual drive of capital and narrative, Manny further pushed the topic toward the future.
He stated bluntly that he not only wants to replicate the paths of predecessors but also to do so faster and more aggressively. He pointed out that Michael Saylor spent five years, using almost all means—appearing on all Bitcoin podcasts, enduring the bear market, issuing unprecedented financial instruments—to accumulate 3.5% of Bitcoin's supply. In the Ethereum space, Bitwise, as a leader in treasury strategies, has the most ambitious goal of one day capturing 5% of Ethereum's supply. Manny said, "But the proportion of TON tokens held by TON Strategy Company has already surpassed the proportion of Bitcoin held by Strategy and far exceeds the current proportion of Ethereum held by Bitwise."
He firmly believes, "We can completely become the most aggressive DAT, targeting 4%, 5%, 6%, 7%, or even 8% of the supply. If done correctly, this will have a profound impact on the market landscape."
What excites Manny even more are the grand opportunities brought by stablecoins. He keenly captured the high valuations enjoyed by Circle on Nasdaq and the reality that Tether's profits have surpassed Goldman Sachs. "The core of the issue is, who truly holds the power? Who has the distribution channels? The answer is Telegram."
Based on this, he proposed his "trillion-dollar vision": assuming that Telegram's 1 billion users each deposit an average of $1,000 in stablecoins, it could create a $1 trillion asset management scale. With a 3% net interest margin, the annual cash flow would be $30 billion; even if half is allocated to Telegram, the remaining $15 billion, valued at a 20x price-to-earnings ratio in the capital market, would still correspond to a market value of $300 billion.
"The numbers could be larger than we imagine." Manny summarized, "The story of crypto treasuries has two chapters: the first chapter is the startup phase, enhancing book value per share through financing and asset allocation; the second chapter is more complex, involving staking, more diverse income opportunities, stablecoin business, and even listing in Hong Kong or the UAE to attract sovereign capital. The truly grand next step has just begun."

Risks and Challenges: Concerns and Responses in the Expansion of the Crypto Asset Treasury Model

Although the crypto asset treasury model has brought unprecedented capital and narrative dividends to TON, this emerging model is not without concerns. Behind the capital frenzy, multiple risks and challenges such as liquidity, governance, and compliance still lurk.
Risk 1: Does the excessive concentration of TON token holdings trigger selling pressure?
The excessive concentration of TON token holdings is often viewed as a potential risk by outsiders, worrying that it may exert selling pressure on the market. In response, TON Strategy Company's Executive Chairman Manny directly replied, "Any holder wanting to sell a large amount of TON tokens can come to me now. I am the largest buyer in the market."
His confidence comes from TON Strategy Company's ability to raise capital as a Nasdaq-listed company. Manny candidly stated, "For us, raising another $100 million, $200 million, or even $500 million is not a problem." Compared to traditional crypto players relying on internal funds, VERB's advantage lies in its compliant financing channels and the capital operation experience of its professional team.
More importantly, he revealed the profound impact of the crypto asset treasury model on market psychology: "When the market believes prices will rise, even if someone originally planned to sell $50 million worth of tokens, when I promise to take them, they may choose to hold instead."
This "buy-side presence leads to reluctance to sell" effect gives the crypto asset treasury model a dual function in the market: not only providing liquidity support but also reshaping investors' expectation structures.
Previously, Alameda had promised to "backstop" FTT before the collapse of FTX, but due to a massive funding gap, it became an empty promise, becoming a typical case of false promises in crypto history. Manny pointed out the difference with VERB: "Alameda's promise was essentially false—lacking capital support and violating liquidity and leverage principles. We are a listed company and must deliver with real capital." Commitments made by crypto asset treasury companies within a compliant framework stand in stark contrast to the past "empty-handed" practices in the crypto industry.
Risk 2: Is VERB merely a financialization attempt by internal TON personnel?
Facing external doubts that VERB is merely an "over-financialization" experiment driven by internal TON personnel, Manny provided a systematic response from an economic perspective.
"Financialization itself is not a derogatory term," he said. "Currency plays an important role in every transaction. Buying an artwork with cash does not mean that the art itself is being financialized."
In his view, the real issue is not whether to "financialize," but whether the monetary system is credible enough. He cited data: "The annual inflation rate of the dollar is about 7%, while Zimbabwe's currency is as high as 1000%, and TON's inflation rate is only 45-50 basis points (0.45%-0.50%), making it more stable."
Manny's core point is that financialization is not synonymous with speculation but a means of value creation and resource allocation. The key to the success or failure of the crypto asset treasury strategy is not whether it is "financialized," but whether its structure is robust and can bring long-term positive effects to the ecosystem.
Challenge: The rapid expansion of the crypto asset treasury model will trigger industry survival of the fittest
Manny elaborated on how the crypto asset treasury strategy injects positive energy into the TON ecosystem. He stated that TON Strategy Company will sponsor industry events such as the Korea Blockchain Week and TOKEN2049, fund developer projects, and explore how to better allocate tokens into TVL and DeFi protocols to enhance ecosystem vitality.
He used the metaphor of urban development to explain this logic: "People are more willing to move to a city that continuously attracts new residents, opens new commercial facilities, and sees rising real estate prices because it is full of growth momentum. Crypto asset treasury companies play the role of this growth engine in the blockchain ecosystem."
In his view, financialization is not a synonym for speculation but a tool for value creation and resource optimization. The real risk lies in whether the structure of the crypto asset treasury is robust. Manny warned, "If an inexperienced team uses high leverage to shove a market cap ranked 75 experimental token into a Nasdaq shell company, it is bound to cause problems."
In terms of operational paths, he particularly emphasized efficiency and compliance: "Many teams have chosen SPACs, but they are too slow in crypto asset securitization. We prefer the PIPE + reverse merger model, which can grow from zero to a $1 billion market cap in a month and further expand in the public market."
This viewpoint reveals the inherent market logic of the crypto asset treasury model: early successful players will inevitably attract a large number of followers, but ultimately only teams with fundamental and risk control capabilities can traverse the cycles. As history has repeatedly proven in finance, every wave of innovation is accompanied by bubbles, reshuffling, and reconstruction. DAT will also follow this evolutionary rule—the market will naturally eliminate projects lacking value support or overly reliant on leverage, leaving behind truly high-quality targets with long-term investment value.

Conclusion: A Watershed Moment in Reshaping Crypto Finance

TON Strategy Company's TON treasury strategy represents a key turning point in the cryptocurrency industry. From Michael Saylor's pioneering Bitcoin treasury model to the systematic expansion of the crypto asset treasury strategy into emerging public chain ecosystems, we are witnessing the further dissolution of barriers between traditional financial capital and crypto-native assets.
This is not only an innovative experiment in capital allocation but also a deep exploration of how crypto assets can integrate into the mainstream financial system.
When institutional investors gain the opportunity to invest in TON tokens through regulated publicly listed companies, and when the operational model of "perpetual capital" begins to replicate in a broader blockchain ecosystem, a more mature crypto financial infrastructure is taking shape. But as Manny warned, the rapid expansion of this model will inevitably lead to industry reshuffling—those followers lacking real value support and overly reliant on leverage will ultimately be eliminated by the market.
For the TON ecosystem, VERB serves as both a conduit for capital injection and a platform for amplifying narratives. In this grand experiment that combines traditional internet giants with crypto-native innovations, VERB may just be the beginning. In this grand experiment that combines traditional internet giants with crypto-native innovations, VERB may just be the beginning.