DeFi Development Corp., a Nasdaq-listed Solana treasury firm, has closed its $11 million public offering of Series C Variable Rate Perpetual Preferred Stock designated “CHAD,” launching what the company describes as the first SOL-backed “Digital Credit” instrument. The preferred shares carry an initial annual dividend rate of 13%, equivalent to an initial effective yield of approximately 16.25% based on the offering price, with the first regular dividend payment scheduled for October 1.
The company said it will allocate practically all net proceeds to additional Solana (SOL) purchases, strengthening its corporate balance sheet without issuing common shares. The non-convertible preferred equity structure is designed to avoid diluting common shareholders while expanding SOL holdings per share. DeFi Development recently resumed Solana purchases, acquiring roughly 19,000 SOL to bring total holdings to approximately 2.33 million SOL and SOL equivalents. The offering included participation from Fundstrat’s Tom Lee.
“CHAD represents a major milestone for DFDV and for the evolution of Digital Credit,” said CEO Joseph Onorati. “For the first time, investors can access Digital Credit backed by Solana, while DFDV gains a new source of permanent capital that can be deployed directly into additional productive SOL.” Following settlement, the firm will execute spot market purchases and integrate newly acquired tokens into its institutional validator infrastructure to generate additional network yields. Onorati added that the immediate benefit is expected to increase SOL per share without increasing common share count, while the larger opportunity is to scale the instrument around par and “accelerate the capital markets flywheel” for accumulating SOL.
