The founder of Berachain has criticized recent reports suggesting that one of its main investors, Brevan Howard, acquired a one-year option to recover its $25 million investment. This assertion has been labeled as both “inaccurate” and “incomplete”.

On Monday, Unchained reported that Brevan Howard’s Nova Digital fund was granted a right to a refund related to its investment during Berachain’s Series B fundraising in April 2024. They shared a side letter signed by Berachain’s general counsel Jonathan Ip and Nova’s director Carol Reynolds, indicating that Nova could recover part or all of their investment within twelve months after Berachain’s token generation event (TGE).

Berachain’s TGE occurred on February 6, which implies that Nova could seek a refund until February 6, 2026.

Berachain Founder: Brevan Treated Equally

Smokey The Bera, the anonymous founder of Berachain, asserted that the reports were misleading. According to Smokey, Brevan’s agreements were consistent with those made by all investors participating in the same Series B fundraising documentation.

“Brevan Howard co-led our Series B from their Abu Dhabi office through Nova, on the same terms as every other investor,” Smokey remarked.

Smokey added that Nova had included provisions to safeguard against a situation in which Berachain might not complete its TGE and subsequent listings. If such a scenario occurred, the Berachain tokens purchased by Nova would be ineligible for their liquid investment strategy.

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Smokey emphasized that Nova remains one of Berachain’s largest token holders and liquidity providers, holding both locked BERA tokens acquired during the Series B and further BERA purchased through the open market.

Currently, the BERA token has dropped 93% from its launch peak of $14.83 in February, now trading at $1.05, showing a 3.2% increase today according to CoinGecko.