Forward Industries (NASDAQ: FWDI) has established itself as the largest corporate holder of Solana (SOL) among public companies, with a treasury holding of approximately 6.97 million SOL, valued at around $885.59 million as of January 2026. This strategic pivot, initiated in September 2025, represents a novel and significant move in corporate treasury management.
The company raised $1.65 billion through a private investment in public equity (PIPE) backed by major crypto investors including Galaxy Digital, Jump Crypto, and Multicoin Capital. The total acquisition cost for its SOL holdings was $1.59 billion. The treasury strategy is not passive; it involves active participation in staking, lending, and DeFi activities on the Solana network to generate yield. Ryan Navi, Chief Investment Officer, emphasized the focus on "active scale and yield generation" within the firm's treasury management.
Despite the massive holding, Forward Industries faces substantial unrealized losses exceeding $700 million based on the acquisition cost versus current valuation. However, the company mitigates this through staking rewards, having earned approximately 133,450 SOL. The strategy is framed around SOL-per-share growth for shareholders.
This move is part of a broader trend in 2024-2026, where several publicly traded companies have added SOL to their balance sheets. Other notable corporate holders include Solana Company (~2.3 million SOL), DeFi Development Corp (~2.2 million SOL), Upexi (~2 million SOL), and Sharps Technology (~2 million SOL). These accumulations signal growing institutional confidence in Solana's long-term network utility and its role in corporate finance strategies, similar to the earlier corporate adoption wave of Bitcoin.
