Key Takeaways:
DeFi Development Corp. sold 1.375 million shares of its CHAD preferred stock at $8 apiece, raising about $11 million to expand a corporate treasury that accumulates and stakes Solana.
The Variable Rate Series C Perpetual Preferred Stock offering settles Sept. 8, the Boca Raton, Florida-based company said in a statement, with R.F. Lafferty & Co. acting as sole book-running manager and holding a 30-day option to buy up to 206,250 additional shares.
CHAD Stock accrues cumulative dividends at a variable rate on a $10 stated amount, with the first payment due Oct. 1. DeFi Development plans to deposit $1.30 a share into a separate account to cover the first 12 months of payouts at a 13 percent annual rate, funded with existing cash, financial instruments and digital assets on hand.
The instrument links a dividend-paying equity to Solana treasury performance, letting investors take exposure to SOL without holding the token directly. DeFi Development, which calls itself the first U.S. public company with a treasury strategy built around SOL, holds about 2.33 million SOL and SOL equivalents and runs its own validator infrastructure, earning staking rewards and fees from delegated stake.
DeFi Development can redeem CHAD Stock at $11 a share plus unpaid dividends after it lists on Nasdaq or the New York Stock Exchange, and holders can demand repurchase at the $10 stated amount if a fundamental change occurs. Unpaid dividends compound monthly, stepping up 25 basis points a month to a maximum 20 percent annual rate.
The structure is a test of whether a traditional equity vehicle can carry crypto treasury yield into public markets. DeFi Development adjusts the dividend rate to keep the preferred trading between $9.95 and $11, a band that implies the 13 percent annual payout must be backed by staking returns and SOL appreciation rather than the company's software business, which generated $1.9 million in revenue in the third quarter of 2025.
The offering extends a push by listed companies to hold digital assets as treasury reserves, a strategy that carries risk because of SOL's price swings. DeFi Development posted $11.4 million in revenue and a $73.8 million net loss for fiscal 2025, and its common shares fell 4.1 percent in the day after it proposed the CHAD offering on Aug. 31.
Insiders bought a net 34,069 shares over the past six months, according to Quiver Quantitative data, a counterpoint to the financing as preferred obligations and digital-asset exposure stay on the books. The Oct. 1 dividend payment will be the first test of whether the treasury's yield can sustain the rate the reserve assumes, and whether the preferred holds its target range once it begins trading.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
