Forward Industries Acquires Massive Solana Treasury

By: Isha Das

Forward Industries has made significant waves in the crypto world with the announcement on September 15 that it has acquired and staked more than 6.8 million Solana (SOL) tokens as part of its strategic treasury initiative. This move marks Forward Industries as the largest publicly traded firm holding Solana, surpassing notable companies such as DeFi Development Corp., Upexi, and Sharp Technology, each of which controls around 2 million SOLs. Executed at an average purchase price of $232 per token, the total investment amounts to approximately $1.58 billion.

While the acquisition has yet to reflect positively in Forward Industries' stock price—which has seen a decline of more than 2% to $33.51 as per Google Finance data—the company's commitment to Solana is unequivocal. Backed by prominent entities such as Galaxy Digital, Jump Crypto, and Multicoin Capital, this strategic move emphasizes the potential Forward Industries sees in Solana as one of the fastest-growing blockchain ecosystems. Kyle Samani, chairman of the board at Forward Industries, described the purchase as a strategy aimed not just at expanding the company's balance sheet, but at advancing the Solana ecosystem and delivering long-term value for shareholders.

The SOL tokens acquired by Forward Industries are touted as "non-locked SOL," purchased through a combination of open market transactions and on-chain acquisitions. This purchase represents the inaugural use of proceeds from the company's recent $1.65 billion private investment in public equity (PIPE) funding round. In particular, several on-chain analysis platforms, including Lookonchain, have observed that the asset management firm Galaxy Digital had significantly contributed to this buying spree, which saw them acquire 6.5 million SOL tokens over five days for a total of $1.5 billion.

Forward Industries has also highlighted a landmark $1 million transaction executed via DFlow, a Solana-based decentralized exchange aggregator. This transaction is expected to be the first of many on-chain deployments by Forward Industries, as the company demonstrates its capability to operate seamlessly across various venues beyond traditional markets. As Forward Industries establishes itself as a major player in the Solana ecosystem, this monumental acquisition paves the way for further innovations and developments in the blockchain sector.