coindesk.com
Shares of Sol Strategies (HODL), a Toronto-listed digital-asset firm, jumped after the company said it secured an up-to $500 million convertible note facility to ramp up its investments focused on the Solana network.
The capital will be exclusively used for purchasing $SOL tokens and expand the firm's blockchain validator operation, the company said in a release. HODL shares surged as much as 18% to C$2.16 before paring some of the gains, but were still up 7% from yesterday's close.
"This is the largest financing facility of its kind in the Solana ecosystem-and the first ever directly tied to staking yield," CEO Leah Wald said in the statement. "Every dollar deployed is immediately yield-generating, and accretive to both our balance sheet and our validator business. This structure is not only innovative-it is highly scalable."
The initial $20 million tranche of the deal, signed with New York-based private equity investment firm ATW Partners, is expected to close by May 1, the company said. The interest on the convertible notes will be paid out in $SOL, calculated as up to 85% of the staking yield on $SOL staked with the firm's validators.
The company said it is also exploring a move to the Nasdaq stock exchange in the U.S., giving it access to a deeper investor base. The move follows similar plans of Canada-listed digital asset investment firm Galaxy Digital, which is set to debut on Nasdaq in May after being granted regulatory approval earlier this month.
$SOL Strategies, led by Wald, co-founder of digital asset manager Valkyrie Investments, spearheaded the movement of adapting Michael Saylor's bitcoin treasury strategy to alternative cryptocurrencies. The firm held 267,151 $SOL tokens as of last month, worth over $40 million at current prices. It also bought three validator businesses last month, bringing the total amount of $SOL staked at the firm's validators to 3,351,617 $SOL, or over $500 million.
U.S.-listed real estate firm Janover, now known as DeFi Development Corp, recently followed $SOL Strategies' footsteps in pursuing a Solana-focused crypto treasury and validator operator strategy.
Read more: Janover Takes Page From Saylor Playbook, Doubling $SOL Stack to $20M as Stock Soars 1700%