Original Title: Why Are Corporates Stacking SOL?
Original Author: Token Dispatch, Prathik Desai
Original Translation: Block unicorn
Introduction
The Solana treasury movement has transformed from a trickle into a torrent. About four months ago, we reported that Sol Strategies was busy building a Solana asset management company. Today, the competition has intensified, and it has a distinctly memey character.
In the record of "unexpected things," a case of a publicly listed company collaborating with a meme coin to operate blockchain infrastructure is quite remarkable. However, just under two weeks ago, another Solana asset management company, DeFi Development Corp (DFDV), partnered with the Solana meme coin Bonk.
They are not just playing around. A few days ago, DFDV announced that it would allocate part of its SOL holdings into liquid staking tokens (LSTs), which can be used for DeFi applications or transfers while also earning yields and staking rewards.
Corporate asset management has fully realized crypto nativeness. From companies buying Bitcoin, to operating validator nodes, collaborating with meme coins, and now pioneering liquid staking strategies. In this article, we will delve into the significance of holding Solana as most other companies (including those connected to former U.S. President Donald Trump) rush into Bitcoin.
The Craze
DeFi Development Corporation (a real estate company, renamed Janover in April 2025) made its largest Solana purchase on May 12, adding 172,670 SOL to its treasury. This brought its total holdings to 609,233 SOL, worth over $100 million.
This accounts for one-third of the company's total market value. The stock market reacted enthusiastically. Since the name change, DFDV's stock has skyrocketed 30 times in the past two months, primarily due to its focus on investing in Solana.
Image Source: @TradingView
Canadian company Sol Strategies is also not to be outdone, having submitted a preliminary prospectus to local securities regulators to raise up to $1 billion to further invest in the Solana ecosystem.
New participants are continuously joining. Nasdaq-listed education technology company Classover Holdings has planned a Solana-centric strategy and has secured $400 million in funding; meanwhile, DIGITALX has increased its SOL holdings to accelerate staking yields.
Why the enthusiasm? There are many reasons.
Does the SOL Treasury Really Make Sense?
Yield Game
The difference between the Solana treasury and Bitcoin strategies is that they can actually generate yields. DIGITALX emphasizes its annual staking yield of 7-9%, expecting an additional income of 800,000 AUD per year. In contrast, Bitcoin's yield is 0%, and you can start to see its appeal.
These companies are not satisfied with simple staking. They are fully committed to building infrastructure. DeFi Development's liquid staking initiative represents the next stage of evolution: earning yields while maintaining liquidity, truly having the best of both worlds. Through this initiative, the company became the first publicly listed company to hold Solana liquid staking tokens.
The collaboration with BONK? This will allow both parties to jointly increase delegated stakes, which is the number of Solana tokens committed to their validator nodes, while sharing rewards in the process. It is a combination of community engagement and asset management. "DFDV and BONK are both leaders in their fields. By collaborating, we can benefit from each other's unique positioning and brand recognition," Parker White, Chief Information Officer and Chief Operating Officer of DeFi Development, told Decrypt.
Validators and Governance Roles
These companies are not just buying and holding SOL—they are becoming suppliers of infrastructure. On May 5, DeFi Development Corp announced a definitive agreement to acquire a Solana validator business, which has an average delegated stake of about 500,000 SOL (75.5 million USD). This creates a "flywheel" effect for the company: reinvesting yields to accumulate more SOL, further expanding validator capacity. This stands in stark contrast to Michael Saylor's Strategy.
By operating validator nodes, the company can:
· Influence network governance
· Build relationships with projects
· Potentially incubate or invest in Solana-based startups
· Create additional revenue streams beyond treasury appreciation
The Story of Speed and Scale
Solana's transaction processing speed is faster, and transaction fees are much lower than those of competing blockchains like Ethereum. For companies that are not just focused on the value of funds, this opens up possibilities that Bitcoin cannot match. Unlike Bitcoin, which is primarily used for transferring value across networks, Solana can support decentralized finance applications as well as consumer applications, games, and more.
Different Play Styles
Each company has a different strategy in this game: DeFi Development Corp is an aggressive innovator. In addition to accumulating 609,233 SOL, they are pioneering liquid staking and meme coin partnerships. DeFi Development Corp CEO Joseph Onorati told Decrypt, "The purchase of Solana exceeding $100 million is a significant milestone—but this is just the beginning."
SOL Strategies takes an institutional approach, focusing on becoming a top staking platform with mature asset management strategies. Their submitted $1 billion prospectus indicates that their ambitions go far beyond mere accumulation. DIGITALX showcases a yield optimization strategy, carefully calculating staking yields and emphasizing its yield potential to shareholders. They view SOL as a dividend-paying stock.
Risk Profile
However, it is not that simple. Let's take a moment for a realistic analysis.
First, the macro trap: These strategies thrive on cheap capital. Most SOL buyers raise funds through convertible bonds or equity financing tools. When liquidity dries up—and it eventually will—everything comes to an end.
Second, the regulatory time bomb: Marco Santori states that the company's SOL asset management strategy allows it to operate in a way that "simple, passive" funds cannot achieve. This is fine until regulators decide that your "asset management" looks like an unregistered investment fund.
Third, yield compression is on the horizon. As more validators join, that enticing 7-9% yield will shrink. This is basic economics: an increase in validator supply means reduced returns for each validator.
The burden of infrastructure is also a real concern. Running validator nodes is not passive income—it is an operational business that requires technical overhead, upgrade requirements, and faces significant risks of cuts. Miss the update window? That's money lost. Dan Kang stated in the Lightspeed podcast that DeFi Development Corp's trading volatility is as high as 700%. This makes Bitcoin look like a stablecoin. Considering Solana's history of network outages, you are betting on both price and reliability. The maximum extractable value (MEV) game will ultimately favor the largest participants, just like on Ethereum.
There is also competition. As of May 21, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not approved any Solana spot ETFs, but once approved, these asset management companies will lose their unique selling advantage. If you can buy a Solana ETF, why buy DFDV? But the same logic applies to Strategy betting on Bitcoin, doesn't it?
Our Perspective
The ongoing Solana asset management phenomenon indicates that it has transcended the past passive balance sheet allocation. They have transformed into active infrastructure investments capable of generating real yields.
Its innovation lies in packaging complex DeFi operations into familiar corporate structures. But we must be clear: this is a high-wire act. These companies are simultaneously betting on Solana's price, network stability, validator economics, and their own operational excellence. When it works, it is wonderful—a single asset can generate multiple income streams. When it fails, you have to explain to shareholders why your "treasury" needs a DevOps team.
Those that can efficiently scale validator operations while addressing the impending yield compression will benefit the most from this game. Those expecting today's high yields to continue into tomorrow and beyond are making a strategic error. When comparing Bitcoin's 50% annual yield to Solana's nearly zero yield over the past 12 months, it reminds us that yield is not everything. But for those willing to accept operational complexity for extra returns, the Solana treasury offers something Bitcoin can never provide: cash flow from day one.
This is Treasury 2.0—a strategy that allows your balance sheet to run code, earn yields, and occasionally collaborate with dog-themed cryptocurrencies.
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