Crypto bank Galaxy Digital sells Block.one stake for $71M as EOS maker eyes 10% buyback of its stock

Crypto merchant bank Galaxy Digital has sold the majority of its share in EOS developer Block.one for $71.2 million, which amounts to a 123% return on its initial investment.

The Michael Novogratz-founded company closed the transaction on Tuesday following a tender offer done on April 18. Its remaining shares will no longer hold a material investment position.

“The acceptance of Block.one’s tender offer reflected a decision to rebalance the portfolio to maintain an appropriate level of diversification after the position increased due to its substantial outperformance relative to the remainder of the portfolio,” Novogratz said in its press release.

However, Galaxy Digital will still team up with Block.one on other businesses including the Galaxy EOS VC Fund, which backs startups that are developing the EOS.IO protocol.

The announcement was followed by a Bloomberg report that said that Block.one was eyeing a buyback of its stocks. The cryptocurrency startup plans to return as much as 6,567% to its earliest investors in less than 3 years.

The planned 10% buyback values the company at around $2.3 billion, up from just around $40 million valuation in the 2017 seed round. The repurchase price offered is $1,500 per share, a 6,567% increase from the original $22.50 price per share. For a $100,000 stake, this translates to a stunning $6.6 million.

A spokesperson declined to comment to Bloomberg the details of the stock repurchase.

Earlier this week, the Cayman Islands-registered firm revealed the launching of its EOSIO Explorer, which is a web-based graphical user interface (GUI) designed to enhance developers’ experience. The newly released explorer will help EOS software developers “interact [with] and monitor” dApps that are created on the smart contract platform.