Long Blockchain, the beverage company-turned-crypto-firm, is facing a delisting from the Nasdaq stock exchange, public records show.
The reason lies in Long Blockchain's sliding stock price, which rose to nearly $7 in December after a strong market response following its crypto-pivot. Now trading below $4, the company's press-time market capitalization of $33.01 million (per data from Google) means that it runs afoul of Nasdaq's rules requiring that a listed firm's market capitalization remain above $35 million for ten business days in a row.
In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dated Feb. 15, Long Blockchain announced it would appeal the move by Feb. 22. If it is successful, the company has until April 9 to maintain a market value of $35 million.
"On February 15, 2018, Long Blockchain Corp. (the “Company”) received a notice from the Listing Qualifications Department of The Nasdaq Stock Market (“Nasdaq”) stating that Nasdaq had determined to delist the Company’s securities under the discretionary authority granted to Nasdaq pursuant to Nasdaq Rule 5101," the firm wrote.
How that process will play out remains to be seen.
The company had already been warned of a possible delisting in October, a move that came just over two months prior to announcing its pivot and accompanying name change.
In the time since the shift toward blockchain, the company has announced and canceled a plan to purchase 1,000 bitcoin miners. In order to fund its purchase, the company also announced a stock sale to raise $4.2 million over a nearly four-week period. This sale was called off a week later, but it remains unclear how much the company raised.
Stock market chart image via Shutterstock