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%