Jiuzi Holdings (JZXN), a small electric vehicle dealer operating in China, is making one of the more dramatic pivots you'll see this year. The company just locked down institutional commitments that could push its private placement financing to $1 billion as it rushes headlong into cryptocurrency custody services.

To put that in perspective: when Jiuzi first announced this private placement back in October, the goal was a relatively modest $12 million. Now we're talking about nearly 100 times that amount. That's not a tweak to the business plan—that's a wholesale reinvention with serious money backing it.

The funds are earmarked for building out a crypto asset services platform, with particular emphasis on secure custody infrastructure and advanced storage solutions aimed at institutional and enterprise clients. The company sees growing demand in the digital asset space and wants to position itself as a trusted custodian.

CEO Tao Li framed the massive investor interest as validation of the strategic vision. "The strong trust placed by investors validates our strategic vision and execution capabilities," Li said. "This substantial additional capital provides us with significant financial flexibility to build secure crypto asset custody infrastructure and pursue strategic acquisition opportunities within the rapidly evolving crypto asset storage ecosystem."

In related news, Jiuzi's board signed off on a 1-for-40 reverse stock split to satisfy Nasdaq's $1 minimum bid price requirement. The move took effect December 10 and reduced outstanding shares from 50.2 million down to 1.26 million, though it doesn't change any shareholder's proportional ownership stake.

JZXN Price Action: Jiuzi Holdings shares were trading up 1.42% at $5.70 at the time of publication on Friday.