Key Takeaways:
- Chamath Palihapitiya has launched a $250M SPAC, American Exceptionalism Acquisition Corp A, targeting DeFi, AI, energy, and defense sectors.
- The SPAC aims to support blockchain-finance integration, highlighting Circle’s public listing as a key DeFi milestone.
- Palihapitiya shifts tone from past U.S. crypto skepticism amid changing SEC leadership and easing regulatory pressures.
Chamath Palihapitiya, an early Bitcoin supporter and billionaire investor, has filed to raise $250 million through a new special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) called American Exceptionalism Acquisition Corp A.
The blank-check firm, set to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker AEXA, will issue 25 million shares priced at $10 each.
BREAKING: The SPAC King returns.
— TBPN (@tbpn) August 18, 2025
Chamath Palihapitiya files a new $250M SPAC: American Exceptionalism Acquisition A (AEXA). pic.twitter.com/bzts3Ll5cD
It will target investments in decentralized finance (DeFi), artificial intelligence (AI), energy, and defense.
The SPAC will be led by Steven Trieu, managing partner at Social Capital, as CEO, with Palihapitiya serving as chairman.
While widely known for his support of Bitcoin, Palihapitiya emphasized that this venture looks beyond Bitcoin, focusing instead on the integration of blockchain with traditional finance.
The filing pointed to Circle Internet Group’s public debut as a case study showing how DeFi can disintermediate financial middlemen and provide customers with reduced friction.
Although the filing admitted that crypto adoption has taken longer than expected, it argued the industry’s rise is now “inevitable.”
Palihapitiya’s SPAC track record has been mixed – with successes like SoFi Technologies but also several liquidations.
Interestingly, the patriotic branding comes after his 2022 claim that crypto was “dead in America,” a stance that has softened as U.S. regulators, under SEC Chair Paul Atkins, have shifted toward supportive oversight.
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