By Ateev Bhandari

Sept 2 (Reuters) - The Ether Machine has raised $654

million worth of ether in private financing, it said on Tuesday,

as the cryptocurrency firm expands its treasury strategy ahead

of its Nasdaq listing later this year.

The 150,000 ether - invested by longtime ethereum proponent

Jeffrey Berns - will be delivered to its wallet later this week,

the company said.

Berns will also join the company's board of directors.

As cryptocurrencies gain favor across corporate treasuries,

ether stands out for its yield-generating ability. Holders can

lock up their tokens to support the ethereum network in exchange

for rewards, earning active returns.

Ether Machine's financing comes less than two months after

it was formed via a merger between the Ether Reserve and

blank-check firm Dynamix Corporation ( ETHM ).

The deal was initially expected to raise over $1.6 billion,

with investors like Blockchain.com, Kraken, and Pantera Capital.

Ether Machine is now expected to go public with over 495,362

ether, the world's second largest cryptocurrency, worth $2.16

billion, and another $367.1 million remaining in capital to

acquire additional ether.

THIRD ROUND

When buying crypto, treasury companies try to minimize

dilution via instruments like convertible debt or preferred

stock to maximize their crypto holdings per share.

"Between the issuance of debt and the ability to do on chain

yield generation that surpasses exchange traded funds, we

believe that we should be able to sustain a multiple-to-net

asset value (mNAV) in perpetuity," co-founder and Chairman

Andrew Keys told Reuters in an interview.

mNAV compares the market capitalization of a company to the

actual value of the assets they own.

With the Nasdaq listing expected to close next quarter, the

Ether Machine is continuing fundraising, Keys said.

"Citibank is leading our third capital raising round," Keys

said, adding that it would be at least $500 million.

"It starts on Wednesday."