Celestia Redeems TIA from Polychain, Revamps Staking Rewards

Celestia Fund bought all remaining TIA from the venture capital firm. Tokens will be redistributed according to a new unlocking schedule. The sale coincided with a change in the rules for calculating staking rewards. The Celestia Foundation announced it has purchased all remaining TIA tokens from Polychain Capital for $62.5 million. This deal marks the exit of one of the project’s key early investors and comes ahead of a network upgrade that will alter how staking rewards are distributed. All remaining Polychain-held TIA tokens were transferred at approximately $1.44 per token, matching the market price in early July 2025. The foundation will redistribute these tokens to new investors with a rolling unlock schedule, effective from August 16 to November 14. The Celestia Foundation did not disclose the names of the new holders. The deal appears motivated by a desire to address criticism directed at Polychain, which reportedly sold large amounts of staking rewards despite most tokens being locked under a vesting schedule. Analysts estimate Polychain may have sold up to $242 million worth of TIA, including $179 million from liquid staking rewards. The firm’s initial investment in Celestia was about $20 million during Series A and B funding rounds. To address concerns, an update called Lotus is planned for the Celestia network in late July. This upgrade will lock staking rewards in proportion to each account’s unlocked token balance, aiming to reduce speculative pressure from addresses with large vesting balances. For example, if 50% of an account’s tokens are unlocked, only half of its staking rewards will be accessible. If all tokens are locked, both the tokens and staking rewards will remain inaccessible until the unlock period ends.