LayerZero Foundation acquisition of Stargate (STG)

General
63

Wormhole Foundation’s Intent to Bid

The Wormhole Foundation has great admiration for the Stargate protocol, team, and holders. The Stargate protocol has consistently been in the top ten of consumers of cross-chain messages and bridge volume. Since LayerZero posted its bid to acquire the circulating supply for STG in a token swap for ZRO, valued at approximately $110M at the time, the Wormhole Foundation has been carefully reviewing publicly available information. Based on our initial review, we believe that STG holders deserve a more competitive process, and we are prepared to submit a meaningfully higher bid. We expect others will do the same. If this process is run transparently and at arm’s length, Stargate will receive the appropriate valuation, assuming the community decides to sell.

LayerZero’s offer at the time: $110M in ZRO for roughly $76.47M in stablecoins and $15.90M in ETH, plus the permanent capture of all future protocol revenue. Treasury alone is ~$92M, excluding STG tokens, yet the proposed deal hands over assets and ongoing economic upside for only $110M in token consideration. It doesn’t create a compelling offer, which values Stargate’s ongoing business at an unreasonably low number.

To maximize value for Stargate token holders, the Wormhole Foundation respectfully requests that the ongoing Snapshot be suspended for five business days to allow the Wormhole Foundation sufficient time to finalize our offer. We believe this modest delay will ensure a fairer process and maximize economic outcomes for all stakeholders. (CC: @Paul_Langford, who posted the original proposal)

In the interest of transparency, the Wormhole Foundation has been reviewing the assets of the Stargate DAO and the Stargate Treasury:

  • The Stargate DAO Treasury

    • $76.47M in stablecoins

    • $15.9M in Ethereum (ETH)

    • $55M in Stargate Tokens

    • $5.24M in other assets

    • Approximately marked to their current value. Source

  • The Stargate Protocol

    • $4B in bridge volume in July

    • Bridge volume is up 10X from July 2024

    • Protocol TVL: $345M

    • Projected annual revenue $2M/year

    • Live across 80+ Chains

    • The Stargate protocol is widely integrated

  • The Stargate Foundation assets

    • The Stargate interface

    • The Stargate codebase

    • The Stargate team

    • The Stargate brand and reputation

The Wormhole Foundation would appreciate additional time to conduct research and to speak with the Stargate team.

Based on the information available to the public, reported assets, the performance and growth of the Stargate Protocol, the demonstrated execution of the Stargate Foundation, and the strategic value, the Wormhole Foundation can improve upon the current offer if more time is allowed to conduct a proper process.

Why Wormhole

Wormhole Foundation’s acquisition of Stargate would combine the two most important players in cross-chain infrastructure into a single, market-dominant ecosystem. Stargate brings deep, unified liquidity pools and proven user demand, while Wormhole commands broad ecosystem integration across dozens of blockchains and protocols, as well as key growth areas in crypto, like RWAs.

Stakeholders will benefit from higher volumes, stronger fee generation, and greater ecosystem stickiness.

The Wormhole Foundation sees unrealized value in the Stargate brand, protocol, and protocol assets. The Wormhole Foundation is confident that a successful combination of Stargate and the Wormhole ecosystem will lead to the most immediate and long-term value for current holders of STG, as well as current and future holders of Wormhole (W).

Request for Additional Information

For the Wormhole Foundation to make the best possible offer, and to shorten the diligence period after any acceptance of that offer, we request several items of information and points of clarification from @StargateFoundation. We are willing to review some of them under NDA if required.

  1. Exhaustive list of assets that are for sale and transfer, including in any transaction by the Stargate Foundation. This should include all administrative privileges, intellectual property, trademarks, software, and property on/off-chain.

  2. An accurate and up-to-date accounting of protocol-owned assets, including liquidity deployed in the Stargate protocol or other protocols.

  3. Provide the best available data on users, traffic sources, and other relevant metrics that the Stargate Foundation can offer to drive the most competitive bid.

  4. Accounting of the current Stargate Foundation team.

  5. Financials for the Stargate Foundation since inception and planned financials for 2025.

  6. Any outstanding liabilities and contingent liabilities that the Stargate Foundation has or is a party to.

  7. Any outstanding liabilities the Stargate Protocol has or is a party to.

  8. Disclose any ongoing lawsuits or regulatory actions against Stargate Foundation, as well as any anticipated tax liabilities or other encumbrances that may need to be settled to transfer assets from Stargate Foundation to Wormhole.

5 Likes