DeFi Development Corp. will pay $3.5 million to acquire the Solana validator business, consisting of $3 million in stock and $500,000 in cash.
The acquired validator operation has an average stake of approximately 500,000 SOL, and the market value of that amount is about $75.5 million at the time of writing this article. This new acquisition will provide DeFi Development Corp. the opportunity to stake its own SOL assets. Additionally, the company will also take over all Solana staking rewards from the acquired operation.
Joseph Onorati, Chairman and CEO of DeFi Development Corp., stated, "We have been planning for a long time to incorporate a validator into our business. Operating our own high-performance validator will increase efficiency and reduce costs by eliminating our reliance on third-party validators." Additionally, it was expressed that this acquisition will continue to generate income through third-party driven staking, contributing to the company's goal of increasing growth per SOL.
DeFi Development Corp. CEO Parker White stated that the agreement not only provides a new cash flow but also strengthens the company's mission to be at the center of decentralized economic infrastructure. Operating validators with significant stake on the Solana network positions DeFi Development Corp. at the heart of Solana and aims to achieve better risk-adjusted returns than simply holding SOL.
The company did not disclose which Solana validator operation was acquired. DeFi Development Corp. has made a transition towards its Solana strategy from only providing data and software services to the real estate sector in recent months. The company recently held 317,273 SOL, which was valued at $46.2 million.
With this acquisition, DeFi Development Corp.'s deeper integration into the Solana ecosystem seems set to solidify the company's position in the crypto space. With Solana trading around $145 these days, this purchase for DeFi Development Corp. not only creates value per SOL but also reinforces its vision for a decentralized economy.