Polychain Capital Sells $62.5 Million Stake in TIA Tokens

TLDR

• Polychain sold 43,451,616.09 TIA for $62.5 million.
• Polychain previously earned over $80 million from staking rewards.
• The sale affects Total Value Locked for staking in Celestia.

Polychain Capital has sold its remaining $62.5 million stake in TIA tokens to the Celestia Foundation. These tokens will transfer to new investors through a rolling unlock mechanism from August 16 to November 14. This move marks the end of Polychain’s staked TIA holdings.

Polychain was a key early backer of Celestia, investing approximately $20 million in its Series A/B rounds. The firm has profited over $80 million through previous staking rewards. The Celestia Foundation is a governance and development entity focusing on scalable infrastructure.

Details of Celestia Foundation’s Purchase

The Celestia Foundation announced the partnership via its official Twitter account. The foundation purchased 43,451,616.09 TIA from Polychain Capital for $62.5 million. The transaction involves a rolling unlock mechanism, with completion expected by November 14.

Polychain Capital, founded by Olaf Carlson-Wee in 2016, has made early investments in notable ventures. These include Coinbase, Tezos, and Compound. By selling its stake, Polychain will soon cancel its entire staked TIA holdings.

Impact on TIA and Blockchain Dynamics

Over $62.5 million in TIA has changed hands in this transaction. Polychain had previously realized over $80 million by selling staking rewards. This sale is significant within Celestia’s ecosystem as the PoS model provides roughly 8% of supply in annual staking rewards.

TIA, Celestia’s governance token, is directly affected by this sale. Previous Polychain sales have influenced TIA price volatility. However, major assets like ETH or BTC have not shown any direct impact. Polychain will cancel its staked TIA, affecting the Total Value Locked (TVL) for staking in Celestia.

Community and Expert Opinions

Reactions from the crypto community have surfaced online. Omid Malekan, a Professor at Columbia University, commented on X about the implications of insider profits in staking arrangements. His remarks resonate with discussions about the fairness of token distribution.

Online discussions include comments from blockchain researchers like Pavel Paramonov and Hazeflow. They address VC dominance and “insider-friendly” token economics. There are no recent changes on Github or roadmap updates linked to this transaction yet highlighted concerns about future unlocks.