Caliber shares up 77% on LINK treasury news amid Nasdaq probe

Shares of Nasdaq-traded real estate asset manager Caliber shot up as the firm announced its pivot to a Chainlink treasury, despite an ongoing exchange probe.

According to a Thursday announcement, Caliber’s board of directors has approved establishing a digital asset treasury strategy focused on Chainlink (LINK). Under its new policy, the company intends to allocate a portion of its funds to acquire LINK tokens.

Caliber’s board also appointed a crypto advisory board tasked with guiding management on digital asset strategy, policy and related initiatives. The news appears to be well-received by market participants, with Google Finance data showing that the company’s stock rose by 77% in pre-market trading and maintained this newly acquired value into the early trading day.

Caliber stock one-day price chart. Source: Google FinanceThis updraft came despite Caliber reporting that on Wednesday, the company received written notice from Nasdaq that it “is no longer in compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(b)(1).” Establishing a Chainlink treasury may be a way to attempt to remedy the issue before being removed from the exchange.

Related: Monster week for crypto treasury firms with $8B buying blitz

Why Caliber faces Nasdaq delisting

The rule in question requires companies to maintain a stakeholder equity of at least $2.5 million to ensure continued listing on the exchange. The company has 45 days to submit a plan and, if accepted, up to 180 days to cure this lack.

A Securities and Exchange Commission filing from the second quarter of this year shows that Caliber had a stockholders’ equity deficit of $17.6 million. If the company fails to fill that hole, it will lose its status as a publicly traded company. If Caliber manages to raise capital for its newly created Chainlink treasury, it may become compliant with listing rules once again.

Related: Are struggling firms using crypto reserves as a PR lifeline?

The rise of corporate altcoin treasuries

After being created by Strategy, the first Bitcoin (BTC) treasury, formerly known as MicroStrategy, the trend of developing corporate crypto treasuries initially focused primarily on Bitcoin. Still, now an increasing number of companies are instead focusing their treasury initiatives on altcoins.

Earlier this week, Trump Media and Technology Group, the owner of US President Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform, announced the establishment of the Trump Media Group CRO Strategy to build a treasury of at least $6.42 billion of Cronos (CRO). Similarly, shares of Sharps Technology nearly doubled Monday after the medical tech firm announced a $400 million Solana (SOL) treasury.

Still, those companies are far from guaranteed success. Earlier this month, Windtree Therapeutics, a biotech company that established a BNB treasury strategy last month, fell 77% on Wednesday after Nasdaq said it would be delisted.

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