DeFi Development seeks $1B to boost Solana investments, expand treasury

DeFi Development Corp (formerly Janover) aims to raise over $1 billion worth of capital to invest in Solana, the industry’s sixth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.

The Nasdaq-listed firm, previously a real estate financing platform connecting commercial property lenders and buyers, announced its plans in a Form S-3 registration statement filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on April 25.

The filing states that the funds will be used for general corporate purposes, including Solana (SOL) token acquisitions.

DeFi Development Corp S-3 filing. Source: SEC

According to the filing, the company may use proceeds from the offering to purchase more Solana, noting:

“Solana does not pay interest, but staking rewards can be earned on Solana. The ability to generate a return on investment from the net proceeds from this offering will depend on whether there is appreciation in the value of Solana following our purchases of Solana with the net proceeds from this offering.”

The company also warned that fluctuations in Solana’s price could lead to it converting the tokens into cash at a value “substantially below” the net proceeds raised.

Related: Deloitte predicts $4T tokenized real estate on blockchain by 2035

Janover was a real estate financing company connecting lenders and buyers of commercial properties before a team of former Kraken exchange executives bought 728,632 shares of its common stock on April 7. Joseph Onorati, former chief strategy officer at Kraken, has since been appointed as chairman and CEO.

The announcement comes shortly after the leadership of DeFi Development Corp adopted a Solana treasury reserve, “by applying a proven public-market treasury model to an asset that’s earlier in its lifecycle, structurally reflexive, and vastly underexposed as compared to Bitcoins.”

The firm’s new Solana investment treasury has drawn comparisons to Michael Saylor’s Strategy, which has amassed over 538,200 Bitcoin (BTC) as of April 20 — the world’s largest corporate Bitcoin holder.

The firm’s board of directors approved the company’s Solana-focused treasury policy on April 4, authorizing long-term accumulation and the launch of Solana validators to enable the staking of its treasury asset.

Parker White, the firm’s chief investment officer, who previously served as an engineering director at Kraken exchange, already runs a Solana validator with $75 million in delegated stake.

Related: US banks are ‘free to begin supporting Bitcoin’ — Michael Saylor

Regulatory concerns remain for Solana investment

While the Solana-focused treasury implementation marks a significant step for altcoin adoption, the firm remains concerned by the potential effects of opaque crypto regulations, according to the filing:

“We may be subject to regulatory developments related to crypto assets and crypto asset markets, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.”

The firm cites unclear regulations around digital assets, which may “adversely affect the price of Solana” and, in turn, impact “the market price of our common stock.”

The firm noted that Solana’s potential “reclassifying” as a security remains a particular concern, which may lead to the firm being classified as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940.

However, the firm’s share price has been benefiting from its Solana acquisitions. Its shares rose by over 12% when DeFi Development Corp added $11.5 million worth of Solana tokens to its treasury on April 22, Cointelegraph reported.

“The decision by commercial property platform Janover to add SOL to its treasury is truly groundbreaking,” Chris Chung, founder of Solana-based swap platform Titan, told Cointelegraph. “I’m confident we will see many other businesses follow suit before long as crypto becomes increasingly adopted by traditional finance.” 

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