Comparing Sol Strategies and DeFi Development Corporation: The “MicroStrategies of Solana”

Following the success of Michael Saylor’s Strategy Bitcoin playbook, TradFi companies are eager to recreate its triumph with other crypto assets.

Acquiring a majority ownership of Janover, a real estate financing company, a team of ex-Kraken executives fancies itself as the ‘Strategy of Solana’.

Who is Defi Development Corporation, the latest TradFi company running the ‘$SOL-as-a-Treasury-Asset’ playbook, and how does it stack up against its rival, Sol Strategies?

TradFi Company Reinvents Itself as the Microstrategy of Solana

A team of former Kraken executives has acquired a majority ownership stake in Janover, a publicly traded real estate financing company, by purchasing 728,632 shares of its common stock, $ JNVR. 

Led by Former Kraken Chief Strategy Officer, Joseph Onorati, Janover plans to rebrand itself as the Defi Development Corporation ($DFDV), a crypto treasury management company, with Solana as its leading asset.

Kickstarting its $SOL accumulation, the Defi Development Corporation has successfully raised over $42M in an offering of convertible notes and warrants from Pantera Capital, Kraken, and Arrington Capital, among others. Speaking with CNBC, Onorati indicated that the company intended to begin acquiring $SOL “immediately.”

 

On top of purchasing $SOL off the open market, The Defi Development Corporation plans to further supplement its holdings through validator operations. The company has also hinted at running “risk-managed DeFi strategies” to earn more $SOL.

Defi Development Corporation anticipates that, should $SOL value increase, it can increase its stock price—much in the same way that Bitcoin appreciation has dramatically benefitted Michael Saylor’s Strategy.

Sol Strategies vs Defi Development Corporation

For all its claims of being “the Microstrategy of Solana”, Defi Development Corporation is not the first company to run Saylor’s playbook on $SOL. 

Sol Strategies, a Canadian Holding Company formerly known as CypherPunk Holdings, began acquiring $SOL in June 2024. In September 2024, the firm rebranded to Sol Strategies, and has since acquired a network of reputable validators, including Cogent, OrangeFin Ventures, and Laine.

At press time, Sol Strategies reportedly owns 267,151 $SOL, currently valued at over $29.4M. Additionally, Sol Strategies validators collectively boast 3,391,092 $SOL, worth $396M, in delegated stake. According to Yahoo Finance, Sol Strategies’ market capitalization currently sits at $320M CAD.

While Defi Development Corporation can theoretically acquire more $SOL than Sol Strategies (courtesy of $42M in funding), the company may struggle to attract enough $SOL to rival the latter’s delegated stake. Attracting stake typically comes from establishing trust within the ecosystem, or by offering superior APY to delegators. Even if Defi Development Corporation owns more $SOL, the company could still generate less revenue than Sol Strategies based on validator profitability. 

Following the announcement of Defi Development Corporation’s plans, the company’s stock, $JNVR soared 842.5%, bringing its market cap up to $53.32M.

Stock Liquidity Concerns?

While a company’s market capitalization is a standardized method of ascertaining its value, this metric can be misleading. For example, Janover has a market capitalization of $53.32M. However, according to TradingView, $JNVR only witnessed a daily average trading volume of $28.5k in the week leading up to its latest announcement.

Likewise, Sol Strategies’ stock, $HODL, has a market cap of $320M CAD. Yet TradingView reports a daily average trading volume of $650k in the past seven days. 

$HODL’s daily trading volume represents a mere 0.18% of its market cap. Comparatively, more established assets like Solana typically witness MCAP/volume ratios of around 11.78%, as recorded over the past 24 hours.

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