Superstate CEO Robert Leshner Buys Majority Stake in 'Shady' Liquor Vendor With BTC Strategy

Robert Leshner, CEO and co-founder of tokenization firm Superstate, said he bought a majority stake in publicly listed e-commerce liquor retailer LQR House (YHC), planning to overhaul the embattled company.

Leshner purchased a 56.9% controlling stake in the firm for $2.03 million, according to a document filed to the SEC. The move sent shares of LQR up as much as 45% during Monday trading.

LQR House runs CWSpirits.com, an online seller of a range of premium liquor products. In November, the firm embraced bitcoin BTC$89,667.83 as a treasury asset, approving an up-to $1 million BTC allocation and enabling crypto payments on its platform.

In a post on X, Leshner said he hasn’t conducted "extensive diligence" on the company, which he described as having a "somewhat shady history." The firm's share price plummeted over 90% since March.

Still, his intent is clear: Clean house and overhaul the business.

According to the SEC filing, Leshner plans to remove all current directors and install a new board to pursue "strategic alternatives" and "explore the potential for strategic transactions."

"There are signs the company is up to no good," Leshner said in his post. "I will sort them out, but please be extremely careful with any low market cap companies.

"I may lose all my investment and you might too," he added.

It was not immediately clear whether Leshner has any plans for digital assets in his turnaround plans. However, the acquisition fits into a growing trend of prominent figures in crypto circles taking the helm of publicly traded firms.

Joseph Lubin, Ethereum ETH$3,034.84 co-founder and CEO of development firm Consensys, became chairman of Sharplink Gaming (SBET) when that company pivoted to an ETH treasury strategy. Thomas Lee, head of research at Fundstrat and well-known Wall Street commentator, joined BitMine Immersion Technology (BMNR) as chairman to spearhead the firm's crypto treasury plans.

Leshner was a founder of early decentralized finance (DeFi) lending protocol Compound COMP$31.29 before focusing on asset tokenization with Superstate.