Berachain’s $25M Refund Deal With Brevan Howard Hinges on Unverified Deposit

Leaked legal documents show blockchain project Berachain  granted hedge fund Brevan Howard’s Nova Digital a refund right on its $25 million investment, but whether the clause is currently active depends on a $5 million deposit that neither party has confirmed.

The documents, obtained by Unchained, include a separate agreement dated March 5, 2024 allowing Nova to reclaim some or all of its investment within 12 months of Berachain’s Feb. 6, 2025 token launch. Berachain must pay any requested refund within five business days. BERA trades at approximately $1.01, down 66% from Nova’s $3 per token investment price. The network’s total value locked reached $3.5 billion in early March.

Terms of the Agreement

Nova’s $25 million represented one-quarter of Berachain’s $100 million funding round, which valued the network at $1.5 billion. Framework Ventures co-led the round alongside Nova Digital, as Coinspeaker reported at the time.

Section 7 of the separate agreement grants Nova the right to request its money back at any time through Feb. 6, 2026. However, Section 6 requires Nova to deposit $5 million into a Berachain wallet within 30 days of the token launch to activate this right. That deadline was March 8, 2025.

If Nova failed to make the deposit or later withdrew the funds, the refund right would terminate under the contract’s terms. Unchained reported it could not verify whether Nova completed the deposit.

Berachain Disputes Reporting

Berachain co-founder Smokey the Bera called Unchained’s reporting inaccurate and incomplete but did not specify which aspects were wrong. The statement referenced unelaborated “complex commercial agreements” that allegedly justify the differential terms.

Four crypto lawyers consulted by Unchained described post-launch refund rights as highly unusual. Gabriel Shapiro of MetaLeX Labs, with experience on more than 50 token deals, said he had never seen such a provision. Two anonymous investors in the same funding round told Unchained they were not informed of Nova’s refund clause when they invested.

Brevan Howard Digital and Nova co-founder Ashwin Ramachandran declined to comment. Nova has until Feb. 6, 2026 to exercise the refund right if it remains active.

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