On the afternoon of September 8, Beijing time, Nasdaq-listed company Forward Industries (NASDAQ: FORD) officially announced that it had secured commitments totaling $1.65 billion in cash and stablecoins. Through a PIPE transaction (Private Investment in Public Equity), the company will initiate a digital asset treasury strategy centered around SOL. The funding round was led by Galaxy Digital (NASDAQ: GLXY), Jump Crypto, and Multicoin Capital, with participation from C/M Capital Partners, one of the company's largest existing shareholders.
According to data from Strategic SOL Reserve, the SOL treasury companies with the largest holdings are currently Sharps Technology (STSS), DeFi Development Corp (DFDV), and Upexi (UPXI), holding 2.14 million coins ($457 million), 2.03 million coins ($433 million), and 2 million coins ($427 million), respectively. Based on this calculation, if Forward Industries proceeds with its purchases quickly, it will rapidly become the largest SOL treasury with its $1.65 billion in capital.
In the funding announcement, Forward Industries noted that Galaxy, Jump Crypto, and Multicoin will provide both financial and strategic support to help design and execute its SOL treasury strategy, with the goal of making it a leading listed institutional participant in the SOL ecosystem. Leveraging the resources of these investors, Forward Industries aims to achieve differentiated on-chain yields within the Solana ecosystem and create long-term value for shareholders through active participation in ecological development.
As the three leading investors in this funding round, Galaxy, Jump Crypto, and Multicoin hold significant positions within the Solana ecosystem and are even regarded as some of the most influential institutions in Solana today.
Galaxy: Currently one of the largest validators in the Solana ecosystem, operating a mature institutional-grade digital asset service system. Galaxy will provide Forward Industries with services such as trading, lending, structural design, staking, and blockchain infrastructure, while also actively managing Forward Industries' treasury strategy using its full suite of products and risk control systems.
Jump Crypto: Long committed to building and maintaining the core infrastructure supporting Solana's growth. Jump Crypto is currently developing Firedancer, a next-generation high-performance client for Solana aimed at enhancing the network's throughput, resilience, and efficiency. Additionally, Jump Crypto is a core engineering and network contributor to key infrastructure projects like DoubleZero and Shelby.
Multicoin: A top-tier VC firm founded in 2017, focusing on long-term, high-conviction investments. Multicoin was an early seed investor in Solana, leading its first three funding rounds before its launch in 2018, and has invested in over 25 projects within the Solana ecosystem.
Following the completion of this funding round, Multicoin co-founder and managing partner Kyle Samani is expected to become the chairman of the board of Forward Industries. Given that Kyle Samani has been frequently sharing theoretical insights and narrative visions about industry development for years, he possesses strong personal charisma and influence across the entire cryptocurrency field. He is anticipated to play a role similar to that of Tom Lee (chairman of the board of BitMine, the largest ETH treasury company) within the Solana ecosystem.
Boosted by this positive news, SOL's price experienced a short-term effective uplift, temporarily reported at $215.3 USDT at the time of writing, with a 24-hour increase of 5.87%. Looking ahead, as Forward Industries officially begins its purchase reserves, SOL's price is expected to receive strong buying support over a certain period.
