Case study · Public Equity · Founding member
The first blockchain SPAC on Nasdaq.
At a glance
The mandate
A special purpose acquisition company is a listed pool of capital formed to acquire a private business and bring it public through the combination. Blockchain Moon Acquisition Corp was formed to do that for blockchain technology businesses, at a point when no such vehicle existed on Nasdaq and the exchange had no precedent to reason from.
What was built
GDA was one of the founding members. The work was the work of any credible listing — sponsor group, governance, disclosure, and the underwriter and exchange relationships — conducted in a sector most listing committees had not yet formed a view on. Being first meant the diligence burden fell on establishing that the category was underwritable at all, not merely that this vehicle was.
The outcome
The company listed on Nasdaq at a market capitalization of approximately $100 million, the first blockchain SPAC on the exchange. For the firm it established a fourth route to public markets alongside the IPO, the reverse takeover and the direct listing — and a working relationship with the sponsor, underwriter and exchange side of a vehicle class most advisers in the sector have never taken through a listing committee.
Being first is a diligence problem before it is a capital problem. The exchange had no precedent to reason from, so the precedent had to be built.
Outcome
Market capitalization at listing
First blockchain SPAC on the exchange
GDA a founding member