The Celestia Foundation has announced the purchase of all remaining TIA tokens held by early investor Polychain Capital for a total of $62.5 million. This strategic move marks the exit of one of the network's foundational backers and precedes a significant network upgrade.
The transaction involved the transfer of approximately 43.45 million TIA at a price of around $1.44 per token, a value that aligns with the market price in early July 2025. The tokens will not be held by the foundation but will instead be redistributed to new, undisclosed investors through a phased unlock schedule from August 16 to November 14.
This buyback is a direct response to criticism leveled at Polychain Capital for selling a significant amount of its staking rewards, even while its initial token allocation remained locked under a vesting schedule. On-chain analysts estimate that Polychain may have sold up to $242 million worth of TIA since the token generation event, including an estimated $179 million from staking rewards, a substantial return on its initial $20 million investment.
To address the community's concerns and prevent similar issues in the future, the Celestia network is planning an upgrade called Lotus for late July. The upgrade will introduce a new mechanism that links staking rewards to the token vesting schedule.
Under the new rules, an account's staking rewards will be locked in proportion to its unlocked token balance. For example, if an account has 50% of its tokens unlocked, it will only have access to 50% of its staking rewards. This change is designed to reduce speculative selling pressure from early investors and promote a more equitable and sustainable token ecosystem.
July 2025, Cryptoniteuae