DeFi godfather controls $2.03 million in U.S. stock company, management launches counterattack
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DeFi godfather controls $2.03 million in U.S. stock company, management launches counterattack
Will Leshner turn LQR House into the MicroStrategy of DeFi?
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsThe publicly traded liquor retailer LQR House, based in Miami Beach, Florida, has recently been anything but quiet.
On July 14, 2025, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings revealed that Robert Leshner, founder of Compound, had acquired approximately 600,000 shares of LQR House Inc. (LQR), a Nasdaq-listed company, using personal funds. His stake reached 56.9%, making him the largest shareholder overnight.
According to the filed Form 13D, Leshner's total investment was about $2.03 million, with some shares purchased via Interactive Brokers at $3.77 per share.
The news sent LQR House's stock price soaring by 45% on Monday’s trading session, reaching $10 by Wednesday’s close—more than double his purchase price.
However, Leshner’s acquisition did not go smoothly, quickly escalating into a capital battle over control between him and the board of directors.
The Battle for Control
"I've acquired a controlling interest in $YHC, a low-market-cap alcoholic beverage company with a questionable past. My plan is to replace the board and help the company explore new strategies," Leshner stated publicly on July 14, the same day as the SEC filing, revealing his intent to "replace management," while also warning retail investors: "I haven't conducted extensive due diligence. There are signs the company may be up to no good. But please be extra cautious with any low-market-cap company—I could lose my entire investment, and so could you."
Per the SEC filing, Leshner plans to propose removing all current board members and nominating a new board team, through written consent or by calling a special shareholders' meeting, in accordance with the company's bylaws and Nevada state law.
Leshner emphasized that he currently has no agreements with other shareholders or third parties, though he does not rule out further communication and collaboration in the future.
Yet, Leshner’s plan appears to have hit an early snag.
On July 14, LQR House filed supplementary offering documents with the SEC, stating it would increase the amount of shares it can issue and sell through sales agents to $46 million, excluding $2,700 worth of shares previously sold under its ATM agreement as of the supplement’s date.
Ordinarily, ATM offerings are a flexible financing tool for public companies, but given the current sensitive timing, this move carries deeper implications.
After reviewing the supplement, Leshner said: "I disagree with LQR House’s approach regarding ATM issuance (selling shares). I believe it’s ineffective, and I’m consulting legal counsel." The next day, July 15, Kingbird Ventures LLC, a shareholder of LQR House, filed a lawsuit in a Florida court, accusing CEO Sean Dollinger and board members of breaching fiduciary duties, misappropriating assets, and violating corporate bylaws. The suit requests the court to freeze certain share changes and suspend board powers to prevent a "hostile takeover."
If the court issues a temporary restraining order (TRO) or injunction, Leshner’s plan to convene a special shareholders’ meeting and remove incumbent directors may be temporarily halted.
In addition, according to sources, the company might consider deploying a "poison pill" defense. A "poison pill" triggers automatic issuance of new shares at a steep discount to existing shareholders—excluding the acquiring party—when a shareholder’s ownership reaches or exceeds a preset threshold. This dilutes the acquirer’s stake, raises acquisition costs, and may force them to abandon the attempt.
But Leshner’s supporters are not standing idle.
On July 16, 2025, Makesy Capital announced it had acquired a 0.1% stake in LQR House and pledged support for Leshner’s reform agenda. Meanwhile, Makesy Capital launched an online campaign opposing LQR House CEO Sean Dollinger, calling it a warning to public company CEOs who treat the open market and retail investors as their private piggy banks.
As of publication, this battle for control remains tense, with both sides cautiously probing each other, wary that any misstep could backfire.
Why LQR House?
LQR House is a small-cap Nasdaq-listed company whose market cap once dipped below $3 million. Even after recent surges, it hovers around $11 million.
At first glance, this may resemble a speculative micro-cap play, but Robert Leshner’s entry suggests another possibility.
As founder of Compound, Leshner was a pioneer in on-chain finance. He led Compound in sparking the DeFi lending trend and has spent the past two years actively exploring the convergence of DAOs and RWA. As crypto capital increasingly seeks deep integration with traditional markets and crypto-linked stocks rise in prominence, this technically grounded DeFi pioneer has chosen to place his bet on LQR House. There are likely three reasons:
First, public listing status. LQR House holds a Nasdaq listing, meaning regulatory pathways are already established. For crypto players aiming to enter traditional capital markets, such "lightweight" public companies offer unique strategic value. By bypassing the high costs of IPOs or SPACs and leveraging existing capital market access, they can more easily serve as springboards for capital, trust, and influence.
Second, low control threshold and fragmented ownership structure. With dispersed shares and a small float, LQR House allows outside capital to quickly gain control—a highly attractive feature for investors seeking to build cross-domain capital platforms. Leshner secured 56.9% control for just $2.03 million, a cost efficiency far surpassing most capital maneuvers.
Third, the company has already begun engaging with crypto operations. According to CoinDesk, LQR House previously announced allocating $1 million in Bitcoin to its treasury and launching cryptocurrency payment services. This indicates it has already taken steps toward bridging digital assets and traditional retail, laying a foundation for expansion into the crypto capital ecosystem.
Is a Compound-Style MicroStrategy on the Horizon?
Since MicroStrategy added Bitcoin to its balance sheet and SBET became the latest Wall Street favorite, global capital markets have embraced the trend of "public companies holding crypto."
The biggest question on everyone’s mind: Will Leshner turn LQR House into a DeFi version of MicroStrategy? Will he bring $COMP or even crypto lending operations into LQR House, creating a new asset reserve and capital model?
But there’s one thing many might overlook: Besides being the founder of Compound, Leshner’s latest title is founder of Superstate.
Superstate, founded in 2023, targets the on-chain fund and compliant tokenized asset space.
Unlike Compound, which serves pure DeFi users, Superstate aims to provide blockchain-based traditional asset funds for institutional investors. Its first product is a tokenized version of a "short-term U.S. Treasury fund," directly targeting the traditional financial market.
Superstate consistently emphasizes key themes: on-chain compliance, asset tokenization, and institution-friendly design. Its ambition lies in bridging traditional finance and on-chain assets.
This may hint at Leshner’s potential strategic direction for LQR House.
As an existing Nasdaq-listed platform, LQR House holds the "ticket" to traditional financial markets, potentially serving as a public showcase for Superstate’s compliant products, RWA ventures, or on-chain funds.
Their combination could create a "public platform under Superstate," using public markets to drive visibility to on-chain products and providing Superstate’s funds with a legitimate secondary market channel for fundraising.
Moreover, LQR House’s prior moves into crypto payments and digital asset positioning could serve as a "testing ground" or deployment channel for Superstate’s products.
This differs slightly from MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin-on-balance-sheet model or SharpLink Gaming’s Ethereum reserves. Leshner may aim to embed on-chain funds and tokenized assets directly into a public company’s capital operations.
A true integration of "on-chain capital" into the traditional financial framework—creating a compliant model for DeFi-TradFi synergy.
This would be a deeper experiment.
Not just a story about holding crypto—but a story about capital itself.
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