Wall Street's New Darling: Why Are Corporate Treasuries Starting to Bet Big on Solana After Bitcoin and Ethereum?

Canadian listed company Sol Strategies plans to log in to Nasdaq under the code "STKE", marking the strategic evolution of the corporate treasury from Bitcoin's "digital gold" to Ethereum's "productive asset", and then to Solana's "financial operating system".

Written by: Luke, Mars Finance

A seemingly ordinary announcement has cast a meaningful stone in the intersection of cryptocurrency and traditional finance. On June 19, the Canadian listed company SOL Strategies Inc. (CSE: HODL) submitted a Form 40-F registration statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), planning to log in to the Nasdaq capital market under the code "STKE." This is not only a capital operation of a company but also a microcosm of an emerging trend.

In recent years, the strategy of listed companies incorporating cryptocurrencies into their balance sheets has undergone a clear evolution. From initially venerating Bitcoin (BTC) as "digital gold" to later embracing Ethereum (ETH) as a "productive asset", each iteration reflects the changing depth of market understanding of digital assets. Today, we are witnessing the rise of the third wave, with Solana as its protagonist.

With SOL Strategies Inc. planning to log in to Nasdaq as a landmark event, an increasing number of corporate treasuries are starting to turn their attention to Solana. This raises a core question: why are these companies choosing to gamble on Solana, given that Bitcoin and Ethereum already dominate the mainstream view? Is this merely a speculative game waiting for asset appreciation, or is there a deeper strategic consideration behind it? The answer is far more complex than simple price expectations, revealing a profound bet on the future financial infrastructure.

The Evolution of Corporate Treasury: From "Digital Gold" to "Financial Operating System"

To understand why companies choose Solana, we first need to review the three stages of the evolution of corporate crypto asset strategies. This journey starts from passive value preservation, moves towards active income generation, and ultimately leads to strategic integration.

The first wave: The beginning of the story of Bitcoin as "digital gold", led by companies such as MicroStrategy. They pioneered the use of Bitcoin as a primary reserve asset, with the core logic of viewing Bitcoin as a store of value and "digital gold" as a hedge against macroeconomic uncertainty. This strategy is relatively passive and essentially "hoard-and-hold" (HODL), betting on Bitcoin's long-term scarcity and value consensus. Many companies, including Tesla and Block Inc., have followed suit, using Bitcoin as a strategic reserve to protect against the erosion of fiat inflation.

The Second Wave: Ethereum as a "Productive Asset" The story enters its second chapter as Ethereum moves to Proof-of-Stake. Businesses are beginning to recognize that ETH can be used not only as a store of value, but also as a "productive asset" that can generate income. By staking ETH, the company can obtain a stable income stream and achieve endogenous growth of assets. Recently, SharpLink Gaming, a NASDAQ-listed sports betting platform, announced the acquisition of 176,271 ETH worth $463 million, and plans to use more than 95% of its holdings for staking, aiming to become the "Ethereum version of MicroStrategy". This change in strategy marks the evolution of corporate treasury from "passive holding" to "active interest-bearing".

The Third Wave: Solana as "Strategic Infrastructure" Today, companies represented by SOL Strategies, DeFi Development Corp, and Upexi are igniting the third wave. Their choice of Solana has transcended simple asset appreciation expectations and passive income. This is a deeper strategic layout, viewing Solana as a "high-performance financial operating system," and attempting to deeply participate in and build the future on-chain economy by holding SOL.

Why Solana? Three Core Drivers

The reason why the corporate treasury is betting on Solana is not a spur-of-the-moment decision, but rather a comprehensive consideration based on three core driving forces. These three driving forces collectively answer the question "Why Solana?" and the answer goes far beyond "waiting for appreciation."

1. Not just earning interest, but also "means of production"

Similar to Ethereum, Solana can also generate considerable returns through staking. However, for companies like SOL Strategies, the significance of SOL goes far beyond that. They do not simply delegate SOL to third parties for staking, but rather use SOL as the "production material" for their core business.

SOL Strategies' business model is to operate its own validator nodes. The huge amount of SOL it holds is the capital base for operating these nodes, which gives the company a double or even multiple source of income: first, staking rewards for its own SOL assets; The second is to earn commissions and block rewards by attracting third-party institutions, such as Australian-listed DigitalX, to delegate their SOL to their validators. This model transforms the company from a mere asset holder to a provider and operator of ecological infrastructure. As its CEO, Leah Wald, emphasizes, SOL Strategies is a "technology company," not a fund. In this model, SOL is no longer just a number on the balance sheet, but the core fuel that drives the flywheel of a company's business.

2. Firm belief in outstanding technical performance

All strategic layouts stem from confidence in underlying technological strength. Wall Street investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald stated in a widely noticed report that they believe "the technology of Solana is clearly superior to Ethereum on every metric." This judgment is not unfounded.

The Solana network is renowned for its unparalleled performance, capable of continuously processing over 2000 transactions per second (TPS), with average transaction fees below $0.001. This high throughput and low-cost feature enables many applications that are difficult to implement on other blockchains due to high costs (such as high-frequency trading, micropayments, and consumer applications) to become feasible on Solana. Its highly anticipated new validator client, Firedancer, aims to elevate network throughput to the million TPS level, and Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko has stated that this is more of a hardware optimization issue rather than a fundamental change to the protocol.

For enterprises, choosing Solana means selecting a platform that is considered to have superior technology and is more capable of supporting future large-scale applications. This is a bet on the technological route, believing that its outstanding performance will ultimately translate into a more prosperous ecosystem and higher network value.

3. Deeply bind the grand vision of "the next Wall Street"

This may be the most fundamental and exciting reason for companies to gamble on Solana. Holding SOL means being deeply tied to a grand vision—namely, the "decentralized Nasdaq" envisioned by Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko. The core of this vision is that all financial assets in the future, whether stocks, bonds, or real estate, will be issued, traded, and settled on the blockchain in tokenized form (RWA).

Companies that hold Solana are not just investing in a token, but also investing in the "bottom track" of the future financial market. By holding core network assets, they gain a ticket to participate in and shape this future ecosystem. As Todd Ruoff, CEO of Autonomys Labs, puts it, the company holds SOL "not just for a store of value, but to actively participate in a growing ecosystem." SOL Strategies has even begun working with Superstate to explore tokenizing its company's stake on the solana chain, trying to be a part of this future in person.

This strategy is far more forward-looking than simply waiting for asset appreciation. It is a deep strategic alliance that closely ties the company's future to the success or failure of the Solana ecosystem. It represents a shift from being a bystander to becoming a participant, and even a builder.

Risks and Horizons: A Clear Examination

Despite the broad prospects, this path is not without risks. Firstly, the price volatility of the SOL token itself is a significant challenge that all participants must face. Secondly, the ongoing uncertainty of the global cryptocurrency regulatory environment, especially regarding asset classification (such as whether it is considered a security), is a sword of Damocles hanging over all projects.

Moreover, there is a more subtle structural financial risk. The stock prices of these "vault companies" often trade at a significant premium, well above their net asset value (NAV) of held crypto assets. Some analysts compare this phenomenon to the past GBTC premium, suggesting that it essentially injects leverage into the system. Once market sentiment reverses, the premium can turn into a discount, potentially triggering a chain reaction that forces these companies to liquidate assets to repay debts, thereby putting downward pressure on the market. Finally, even the founder of Solana remains clear-headed, with Yakovenko reminding that converting high user engagement into high retention rates and pushing the ecosystem beyond the frenzy of Meme coins towards maturity is a real challenge that needs to be addressed.

Conclusion: A Strategic Bet Beyond Price

In summary, the reason why corporate treasuries are starting to gamble on Solana is multi-layered and highly strategic.

• From a strategic perspective, this is an evolution from passive holding (Bitcoin's "digital gold") and active yield generation (Ether's "productive asset") to deep strategic integration (Solana's "financial operating system").
• From a business perspective, SOL not only brings staking rewards but also serves as production material to drive the company's core business (such as validator nodes), creating diversified revenue streams.
• From a technical perspective, this is a strong belief that Solana's high-performance, low-cost architecture can win the competition in the future.
• From a vision perspective, this is an ultimate bet on the grand narrative of "tokenization of all things" and "decentralized Nasdaq", aiming to seize the strategic high ground of the future on-chain financial world.

Therefore, simply interpreting the actions of these companies as "waiting for appreciation" clearly underestimates the ambitions behind them. They are not purchasing a lottery ticket, but rather buying a cornerstone of a future new continent and attempting to personally participate in the construction of this new land. This is precisely the real charm of Solana as the new darling of Wall Street, attracting more and more corporate treasuries to join in.