Shares of Sharps Technology nearly doubled Monday after the medical device maker announced a $400 million move to fund a new treasury strategy built around Solana’s native token. The stock jumped 96% from $7.40 to an intraday high of $14.53 before easing to $12.01 at this writing.

Sharps signed a letter of intent with the Solana Foundation to purchase Solana (SOL) tokens via a private investment in public equity (PIPE) transaction — a type of financing deal where accredited investors buy shares of a publicly traded company at a discount to the current market price.

The deal, expected to close on or around Aug. 28, would see Sharps acquire $50 million worth of SOL tokens at a 15% discount to their 30-day average price.

Investors may fund their allocations using locked or unlocked SOL, receiving pre-funded and stapled warrants in return, a structure that ties equity exposure directly to Solana. 

Sharps also announced the appointment of Jambo co-founder Alice Zhang as chief investment officer to lead the shift and added James Zhang as a strategic adviser — both well-known figures in the Solana ecosystem.

Related: Galaxy Digital, Multicoin, Jump Crypto plan $1B Solana fund: Report 

Health sector companies pivot to crypto treasuries 

Crypto treasury companies are publicly traded companies that hold digital assets like Bitcoin (BTC) or SOL on their balance sheet, giving investors indirect exposure to crypto assets through their stock. The idea was first conceived by Michael Saylor of Strategy in 2020, and has since inspired hundreds of companies to follow suit.

The model has recently gained traction in the health sector, where several small-cap and mid-cap firms have pivoted into crypto treasuries to diversify and attract investor attention.

In November 2024, Hoth Therapeutics, a New York–based biopharma developing therapies for skin, cancer and autoimmune diseases, said it would allocate $1 million in Bitcoin as a treasury asset, framing the move as an inflation hedge. 

In March, the trend reached Atai Life Sciences, a Nasdaq-listed biopharma developing psychedelic-based mental health treatments. Founder Christian Angermayer said the company would purchase $5 million in Bitcoin, arguing in a Substack post that drug development is “cash-hungry” and regulatory approvals can take more than a decade.

In July, 180 Life Sciences, a biotech working on anti-inflammatory therapeutics, rebranded as ETHZilla and announced plans to build a $425 million Ether treasury after its stock had fallen 99%. 

Wall Street firm Charles Schwab recently warned in an educational video that companies “putting large chunks of cash in a historically volatile asset that isn’t tied to their core business has raised a red flag or two.”

Magazine: Asia Express: ‘China’s MicroStrategy’ Meitu sells all its Bitcoin and Ethereum