Greenlane's $110M Bet on Digital Assets

Greenlane Holdings (Nasdaq: GNLN) is a unique company that has evolved from a cannabis accessories distributor to become a significant player in the digital asset treasury trade. Founded by Jason Hitchcock, Greenlane's origin story began as a business focused on distributing cannabis products before it was approached by the Berachain Foundation to serve as a public-market proxy for their native token, BERA. A $110.7 million private placement led by Polychain Capital brought in new management and funding, with Jason Hitchcock eventually taking over as CEO.

Greenlane's business model has shifted its focus from being an asset-heavy drop-shipping operation to accumulating large amounts of digital assets, particularly BERA. At the end of the first quarter, Greenlane held approximately 77.7 million BERA, making up nearly a third of circulating supply. The company grew its BERA-per-share value by about 44% over three months while reporting an $18.4 million net loss due to fair-value markdowns.

According to Jason Hitchcock, the concept of 'chain revenue' is largely fictional and misleading. He argues that what is typically reported as chain revenue, gas burned, is actually money destroyed rather than routed to anyone. Berachain's model inverts this approach by directing a large share of emissions to businesses building on the chain, which use it for customer acquisition and financing.

Hitchcock emphasizes that Greenlane doesn't just hold digital assets; it runs validators, stakes into Proof of Liquidity, and lends stablecoins into DeFi and onto stable pairs to earn trading fees. He views the company as a signal to the market that there is a buyer in size who is permanently interested in these assets.