Shares in DeFi Development Corporation UK jumped 83% to 21p after the company unveiled a name change, a boardroom overhaul and a sweeping reset of its financing arrangements.
The group plans to rename itself Cykel AI, a move it said better reflects a strategic repositioning towards artificial intelligence.
The change will have no effect on shareholdings, with the company's ISIN, SEDOL and Legal Entity Identifier all unchanged.
Alongside the rebrand, the company has reshuffled its leadership.
Chair Hadley Stern, chief executive Michael Chan and chief financial officer Nathalie Maggi will all step down and resign as directors from 30 June 2026.
Gerald Tritt has been appointed chief executive and a director with immediate effect.
Tritt currently serves as president and chief executive of Jolt Health, a listed health, wellness and biotechnology company, and as chief executive of Clara Technologies, another listed health and wellness business.
He is also co-founder and chief executive of restaurant concepts, including Vera's Burger Shack.
Ewan Collinge will remain a director, providing continuity as the company pursues its renewed AI focus.
The company has also reworked the terms of a £2.8 million fundraising struck in August 2025 through pre-paid warrants issued to a group of strategic investors.
Those warrants cannot be exercised until certain conditions are met, a deadline that has now been extended multiple times.
After previous extensions in December and June, the company has agreed with investors to push the deadline back to 29 June 2028.
The board said the two-year extension would allow it to progress its development in an orderly manner.
Separately, the company has terminated a revolving credit facility agreed in January 2026 with DeFi Development Corp, its Nasdaq-listed namesake.
Under a settlement, the company will make a payment to the lender in full and final settlement of all amounts outstanding under the facility.
