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Cypherpunk Holdings (ticker: HODL) is doubling down on its strategy to buy and stake Solana’s native token — to such an extent that the publicly traded cryptocurrency investment firm has been renamed SOL
+1.85%
Strategies, it announced on Thursday.
The firm, which only began buying SOL in the second quarter of 2024 (when former Valkyrie CEO Leah Wald took up the reins as chief executive officer), now holds over 86,000 solana (valued above $11 million at current prices, according to The Block’s data), the majority of which are being staked to earn token rewards.
“We've continued to put more of our balance sheet into SOL and are trying to engage with the Solana ecosystem as much as possible,” Wald told The Block in an interview. “We are highly focused on the Solana ecosystem.”
If the SOL strategy seems reminiscent of MicroStrategy’s pivot to buying bitcoin back in 2020, it’s because of many similarities between the two firms’ “treasury management” styles. In short, if MicroStrategy’s massive bitcoin bags became a way for investors to gain exposure to that crypto asset, SOL Strategy would do the same for Solana.
In June, the firm, then still Cypherpunk Holdings, became one of if not the first publicly traded firms to put SOL on its balance sheet, making its stock a proxy vehicle for traders to gain exposure to the fastest-growing blockchain without having to buy the token outright.
“We think that MicroStrategy has been very successful at utilizing their treasury management strategy to accumulate bitcoin giving the market exposure to bitcoin via MSTR,” Wald said. (Cypherpunk did similarly when it bought its first 100 BTC in 2019.)
However, Wald clarified that it’s not a perfect comparison — because so much of SOL Strategies’ tokens are locked up earning yield in company-run validators, HODL is more akin to a bitcoin mining stock. Additionally, MicroStrategy regularly issues debt to purchase bitcoin, making its stock a play on leveraged bitcoin (the firm has $4 billion in debt and about $13 billion worth of bitcoin on its balance sheet).
“No other companies are running a validator, and none of the staked-SOL ETPs for North America are approved,” Wald said. “It's an interesting time right now with 3iQ filing many months ago for a SOL ETP in Canada and VanEck filing for a SOL ETF in the United States.”
Most experts believe the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is unlikely to approve a SOL exchange-traded fund anytime soon, meaning that — at least for now — if institutional investors want exposure to SOL, buying SOL Strategies stock is one of the few available avenues.
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To some extent, that’s also a page out of MicroStrategy’s playbook. When the Michael Saylor-helmed company began adding bitcoin to its balance sheet in August 2020, there were no bitcoin ETFs available in the United States. It wasn’t until October 2021 that ETFs based on bitcoin futures began trading; spot bitcoin ETFs hit the market in January of this year.
SOL Strategies purchased its SOL tokens for an average price of $143. It has earned over 230.35 SOL (worth ~$57,000) from staking as of June.
‘Rising Tide’
The change to SOL Strategies comes amid a period of rising interest in Solana, which has seen its userbase and transaction count skyrocket following the launch of memecoin launchpad Pump.fun in January. However, Wald said memecoins are likely a “fad” and that “the trend of continued interest on a more substantive basis for Solana is still increasing.”
Solana’s “immense throughput with minimal fees” is “going to start mattering … as more companies in the financial sector consider what blockchains they want to use to underpin their new projects,” Wald said, adding that she’s “very concerned about both Bitcoin BTC
+1.12%
and Ethereum's ability to affordably manage transactions on the base chain.”
That said, despite the name change and increased emphasis on Solana, SOL Strategies is still pursuing a multi-token, multi-equity investment strategy. Wald said the firm will maintain bitcoin as a treasury asset, and as of its latest financial statement, the firm still has equity investments in hardware wallet firm and eco-friendly crypto Chia.
Between March and July of this year, SOL Strategies sold off about 109 BTC and shed the entirety of its equity stake in metaverse firm Animoca Brands, which was once its second-largest investment. The firm has about approximately $4.9 million in cash and $115,000 in liabilities. Its other venture capital and equity bets have a book value of nearly $500,000.Finally, when asked about the risk of the SEC one day approving Solana ETFs, thereby undercutting SOL Strategies’ current moat, Wald was nonplussed.
“In many ways, since Solana is more esoteric, we believe that a rising tide would lift all boats here,” she said.
Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.
© 2024 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
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On June 17th, Scroll announced that its ecological DEX NURI Exchange will launch its native token NURI on June 19th. According to reports, NURI combines the security of Uniswapv3 with innovative governance and incentive measures.
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The article discusses Solana’s (SOL) bullish pattern and potential breakout towards $180, as well as the strong presale phase for meme coin Mpeppe (MPEPE), highlighting the growing strength of meme coins in the cryptocurrency market. #zachxbt

Chainlink announced in its official blog that its Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) has officially entered the General Availability (GA) stage. Developers can use CCIP to transfer loaded tokens across chains without permission, send arbitrary messages to smart contracts on another integrated blockchain, or send data and value at the same time through CCIP's unique support for programmable token transfers. Supported blockchains include Arbitrum, Avalanche, Base, BNB Chain, Ethereum, Kroma, Optimism, Polygon, and WEMIX, and more blockchains will be added in the future. #zachxbt

According to Coinglass data, the total open interest of BTC futures contracts is 419,290 BTC (equivalent to $17.69 billion), with a 24H decrease of 1.22%.
Among them, the open interest of CME BTC contracts is 115,440 BTC (equivalent to $4.86 billion), ranking first; the open interest of Binance BTC contracts is 101,240 BTC (equivalent to $4.27 billion), ranking second. #zachxbt

Magic Eden is a cross-chain NFT marketplace that plans to support the upcoming Bitcoin Runes token standard. Runes was created by Bitcoin developer Casey Rodarmor and is touted as a more efficient way to mint and trade tokens on the Bitcoin network. Magic Eden aims to double down on the development of the Bitcoin ecosystem by adding Runes to its existing Ordinals market.
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The Ethena protocol behind the USDe digital dollar currently accounts for nearly 5% of global Ethereum perpetual futures open interest contracts. USDe is a token pegged to the value of the US dollar, which can provide high returns. Although it is described as a stablecoin, the team avoids using this term and instead explains it as a "synthetic dollar." George Calle, Vice President of Research at TheBlock, emphasized that Ethena's USDe is essentially a tokenized representation of cash and arbitrage that exists in the crypto market. Therefore, it generates returns by shorting Ethereum futures and staking Ether. According to CoinGecko data, the project's advertised yield of up to 27% has so far attracted users to mint approximately $420 million worth of USDe tokens.
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BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes analyzed the evolution of ownership structure and fundraising methods in the cryptocurrency industry in his latest blog post. By comparing the business model of the East India Company in history with the operating methods of modern cryptocurrency projects, Hayes explored how from Bitcoin to the first token issuance (ICO), liquidity mining (yield farming), and even the latest points system have become a natural evolution for user participation and fundraising. Hayes emphasized the fundamental difference in fundraising and attracting users between Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 projects, especially in the cryptocurrency industry, where holding tokens or points allows users to directly participate in project ownership, which is a major paradigm shift. He believes that the emergence of Bitcoin marks a new beginning, where participation is equivalent to ownership. Subsequently, ICOs as an early fundraising method allowed retail investors to participate early, while liquidity mining further incentivized participation by rewarding users for directly using the protocol. According to Hayes' analysis, the latest points system combines the strengths of both ICOs and liquidity mining. This system rewards users who interact with the protocol with points, which may be converted into tokens in the future, creating a more flexible and sustainable incentive mechanism. Hayes believes that this method can not only effectively attract and retain users, but also provide a more equitable way for retail investors to participate in the project at a lower cost in the early stages. In addition, Hayes also mentioned the potential impact of the points system on fundraising strategies for cryptocurrency projects, pointing out that this could reduce reliance on pre-selling tokens to venture capitalists and high net worth investors. He emphasized that the success of this system depends on a high level of trust between project founders and users, while also warning of potential risks and improper behavior.
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Senior Democrats are opposing the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21), which is supported by digital asset organizations like Coinbase. The bill provides a regulatory framework for digital assets and expands the authority of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). House Financial Services Committee Ranking Member Maxine Waters and House Agriculture Committee Ranking Member David Scott have sent an email to Democratic members of the House of Representatives expressing their opposition to the bill, citing concerns that it undermines established legal precedents and weakens investor protections. The email also urges lawmakers to vote against a bill introduced by Majority Whip Tom Emmer that would block the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency.
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According to The Information, the collapse of a major cryptocurrency-friendly bank last year caused a lot of trouble for the cryptocurrency market, making it more difficult for hedge funds and other cryptocurrency investors to transfer funds at the speed required by most exchanges. However, more and more cryptocurrency brokers (such as FalconX) and cryptocurrency trading firms (including GSR and B2C2) are getting involved in providing short-term financing to ensure that their clients' transactions can be settled immediately, generating huge returns in the process. Several cryptocurrency brokers are acting as shadow banks, providing short-term loans to make up for timing mismatches, charging annual interest rates as high as 25%.
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According to official data, as of Friday, June 7th, Grayscale GBTC held 285,105.8738 BTC, and BlackRock IBIT held 304,976.7378 BTC. The difference in bitcoin holdings between Grayscale and BlackRock has widened to 19,870.864 BTC.
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Trump stated in his appointment of David Sacks that Sacks will focus on establishing a legal framework that provides the clarity the cryptocurrency industry has long sought and allows it to thrive in the U.S. Analysis suggests that David Sacks is expected to help lead the effort to fulfill Trump's campaign promise to ease regulation on the cryptocurrency industry. This position is anticipated to provide cryptocurrency advocates with a direct channel to the White House and serve as a liaison between Trump, Congress, and federal agencies related to digital assets, including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. In the field of artificial intelligence, David Sacks will assist Trump in imprinting his mark on an emerging technology that has seen explosive growth in recent years. David Sacks will be at the forefront of determining how the federal government adopts and regulates the use of artificial intelligence, as advancements in AI technology and consumer adoption bring both broad benefits and risks related to national security, privacy, employment, and other areas.

Coinglass data shows that the current notional value of open positions in BTC options across the network is $29.95 billion, and the notional value of open positions in ETH options is $14.7 billion.
According to previous news, Deribit data showed that BTC options and ETH options contracts with a nominal value of more than $2.024 billion and $1.269 billion in ETH options contracts will expire for delivery on Friday (March 15). Among them, the maximum pain point price of BTC is $65,000; the maximum pain point price of ETH is $3,500. #zachxbt

Florida's Chief Financial Officer, Jimmy Patronis, has suggested that the state's pension funds invest in cryptocurrency, inspired by Donald Trump's support for the US government stockpiling bitcoin. In a letter to the state's investment managers, Patronis urged them to consider the option, stating that bitcoin is often referred to as "digital gold" and could provide a secure hedge against the volatility of other major asset classes. He also noted that other states have already made similar investments. Patronis praised Trump's innovative thinking and urged that it not be taken for granted.
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According to official news, the encryption trading platform BitRocket will be officially launched in mid-December and will issue the platform token BRC at the same time. BitRocket will use 95% of the total BRC for community rewards until full output. #zachxbt

In response to previous rumors that Kraken was planning to delist USDT based on European regulatory assessments, Mark Greenberg, Kraken's Global Head of Asset Growth and Management, clarified on X platform that Kraken will continue to be listed in the European market and currently has no plans to delist USDT. Kraken understands that European customers value the use of USDT and will continue to consider all options for providing USDT under the upcoming regulations. Kraken will comply with all legal requirements, even if they are some disagreeable requirements, but the rules have not yet been finally determined. Kraken will continue to make every effort to provide all relevant stablecoins to European customers.
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Real estate-backed stablecoin protocol Tangible has announced that it is preparing to launch its permissionless L2 network re.al for tokenizing RWA. .
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