In one week, the SOL ecosystem's "coin-stock linkage" surged four times.

Source: Blockbeats

Author: BUBBLE

Original Title: 400% Surge in a Week, Who is the Real SOL Version of MicroStrategy

With the catalysts of projects like Robinhood, xStocks, and Republic, a large number of on-chain "stocks" have emerged in the Solana ecosystem, marking an unprecedented "coin-stock linkage" experiment. Upexi, after continuously increasing its SOL holdings over the past few months, has surpassed 730,000 SOL, becoming the NASDAQ-listed company with the most SOL. Recently, it announced that it will tokenize its SEC-registered stocks on Solana through the Opening Bell platform under Superstate.

In addition to planning to launch "tokenized stocks" on the same platform, there is also another "SOL Microstrategy Company" SOL Strategies, both of which are trying to build a three-layer circular structure: financing SOL assets through traditional equity (or debt), unlocking liquidity through on-chain tokenization, and ultimately achieving capital amplification through DeFi protocols.

The success or failure of this model will directly affect the integration process of traditional finance and on-chain finance.

Are companies that buy SOL really making money?

The two companies that are about to launch Opening Bell both use SOL as their core asset, but their financing models and holding strategies differ. In terms of financing scale and execution, Upexi has chosen a more aggressive path. On April 21, 2025, Upexi announced that it raised 100 million dollars through a PIPE private placement, led by the well-known crypto market maker GSR. It issued 43,859,649 shares of common stock at a price of 2.28 dollars per share. After deducting operational expenses, approximately 530 million dollars will be used to repay debts, while the remaining funds are specifically for establishing a SOLana treasury and increasing SOL assets. According to company executive Arif Kazi, the per-share pricing of this financing was higher than the market price at the time and did not set any lock-up or token additional terms. Upexi then quickly bought SOL assets, and as of June 30, it held approximately 735,692 SOL, valued at about 110 million dollars at market price. The average purchase prices for the three major transactions were 135.22 dollars, 141.10 dollars, and 151.50 dollars, with a combined average cost of approximately 142 dollars per SOL. This portion of SOL assets has about a 10% premium compared to the current price (157 dollars).

Recently, in an announcement, the company plans to obtain an annual yield of approximately 7%–9% by staking SOL, and will lay out businesses such as mining machines, nodes, staking, and DeFi within the SOL ecosystem. If, as stated in the announcement, most of the SOL has already entered staking, then without reducing holdings and with minimal fluctuations in the average price of SOL, Upexi's annual earnings from SOL staking will reach 8.8 million dollars. These earnings are not directly shared with the company's shareholders but are added to the national treasury, thereby directly increasing the net asset value per share (NAV per share), which is the "SOL content" per share. Based on 38.2 million circulating shares, each share corresponds to approximately 0.0192 SOL (worth about 2.97 dollars). The accumulation of staking earnings may further increase the value of each SOL share, thereby supporting the rise in stock price.

SOL Strategies has adopted a convertible bond financing method. On April 23, 2025, the company announced an arrangement for a $500 million convertible bond quota with ATW Partners, specifically for the purchase and staking of SOL. The first tranche of $20 million has been received around May 1, used to purchase SOL and stake it on its validator node, with the remaining up to $480 million to be withdrawn in batches according to market conditions. The convertible bonds can be converted into company stock at market price, with interest paid at an 85% staking yield of the actual SOL received.

As of June 30, SOL Strategies' holdings of SOL have increased from the initial approximately 267,321 coins (valued at about 40 million USD) to 392,667 coins of SOL, with an average purchase cost of about 153.53 USD per SOL. In terms of coin price, there has been almost no significant loss or gain.

The current average yield of the staked SOL reported is approximately 7.53%. Although some of the yield is similar to Upxie, which reinvests the yield into the treasury or node staking to enhance net asset value per share. However, in the collaboration with ATW Partners, the agreement states that 85% of the staking yield generated from SOL acquired and staked through facilities is paid to creditors in SOL as interest on the debt portion. This model creates a relatively self-sustaining financial loop, generating returns from the very first dollar of capital invested. In addition, the convertible bond can also be converted into company stock at market price according to the conversion terms, specifically at the market price on the day before conversion. This arrangement is exempt from registration under Canadian and U.S. securities laws and complies with Ontario Securities Commission Rule 72-503, eliminating the statutory holding period required under Canadian securities law.

The stock price of a counterfeit listed company has collapsed; can blockchain "extend" the premium of asset net value?

Whether through PIPE or convertible bond financing to purchase SOL, both Upexi and SOL Strategies have validated, in some form, the feasibility of functional returns on assets like SOL. However, this is only the first two steps, and there have indeed been some systemic risks in the stock price performance.

For example, after Upexi reported PIPE financing on April 21, 2025, the stock price surged from about $2.3 to an intraday high of $16.8, an increase of up to 630%. However, following the release of PIPE shares on June 23 and the resale registration by investors, the stock price fell about 60% in a single day, and further dropped to about $3.26 on the 25th, halving by over 77% in just two days, nearly erasing the stock price gains made before the strategy. After the financing was completed, Upexi's net asset value per share premium quickly rose from about 4 times to over 7 times, but after the release of PIPE shares, it swiftly fell back and is now close to the NAV level per share.

The initial financing method and purchasing approach of SOL Strategies were not as aggressive as Upexi, but they encountered similar problems. After announcing convertible bond financing on April 23, the stock price surged over 18%, closing up 7% the next day. By early June, when the Q2 financial report and on-chain pilot were disclosed, the stock price had risen from 1.8 CAD to 2.42 CAD, an increase of about 34%. However, by July 2025, the stock price had retraced about 60% from its peak, resulting in its NAV premium dropping from about 5 times during Q2 to around 4.5 times.

The Next Channel for Publicly Listed Companies to Buy Coins - Opening Bell

In fact, most publicly listed companies involved in the "coin-stock concept" have encountered similar dilemmas. However, Upexi and SOL Strategies have taken advantage of the recent trend of "US stocks going on-chain" to be the first to initiate the transformation of on-chain stock strategies and market structures. After the launch of Opening Bell by Superstate, the Canadian listed company SOL Strategies announced a plan to list on Nasdaq, but before ringing the bell at Nasdaq, they chose to "ring the bell" on Superstate first. On May 8, 2025, they announced that their company's stock would be launched on the platform, and pending regulatory approval, SOL Strategies' stock will trade on Solana this summer. Following this, Upexi announced on June 26, 2025, that it would tokenize its shares through the Opening Bell platform, making both parties the first participants on the platform.

Opening Bell is currently choosing to establish itself on Solana (with plans for other chains like Ethereum in the future), interacting with USTB and USCC issued by Superstate, and the company's shares will be recorded and tokenized by Superstate's SEC-registered, blockchain-enabled share registration agency. Unlike other "mirror tokens", this form will not represent synthetic exposure or wrapped tokens, but will instead be the company's actual shares truly on-chain for the first time. Interestingly, similar to Nasdaq, Superstate stated that when the company goes public from Opening Bell, they will ring the bell simultaneously at Superstate's headquarters in New York.

For listed companies, Opening Bell provides a "virtual cross-chain bridge" from reality to Crypto, while for unlisted companies, Opening Bell resembles the "Pre Market" of NASDAQ or NYSE, offering the ability to open shares to crypto users in the crypto-native market, providing different funding exposures for future "official listings."

Can the Opening Bell Really Save "Coin-Stock Concept Stocks"?

At present, both Upexi and SOL Strategies, as well as other cryptocurrency purchasing companies, have their core support for each share's NAV almost entirely derived from the market value of the SOL they hold. Many in the community are concerned whether they will use a layered approach to create a "coin-stock bubble" by financing the purchase of SOL through PIPE or convertible bonds, then tokenizing the company's stock on the blockchain, and subsequently using the stocks as collateral in DeFi for lending, thereby releasing new investable capital and achieving a "buy SOL - collateral - reinvest" flywheel structure.

However, the stock issuance and trading on the Opening Bell platform are still subject to a strict regulatory framework. The platform requires investors to complete KYC verification and relevant education before they can store "On-chain Shares" (Token Shares) in a pre-approved whitelist wallet. Currently, only existing shareholders, investors who have passed Superstate KYC verification, and compliant "KYC" partner wallets have whitelist rights. In other words, on-chain stock trading is currently limited to approved accounts, and investors cannot freely use tokenized stocks as collateral or for lending in any DeFi protocols.

At the same time, Superstate and institutions like the Solana Policy Research Institute have submitted a pilot proposal to the SEC called "Project Open." The proposal envisions allowing certain U.S. companies to issue, register, and trade their stocks natively on public blockchains like Solana within a limited range of issuers. The trading process also needs to be completed in approved whitelist wallets, and regulators have the authority to intervene and modify at any time. If the SEC ultimately approves it, this means stocks could achieve global, 24/7, real-time settlement like cryptocurrencies; if not, the traditional trading model will continue.

Radical Experimentalists Superstate

Robert Leshner, founder of Compound and Superstate, stated in an interview that he is betting on a new generation of cryptocurrency-first investors. "This is a huge wave of capital that doesn't care about brokerage accounts, only about blockchain wallets. They want to transact in the way they are accustomed to. I really believe this is a whole new capital market, ready to welcome companies at any time." He also added, "Hedge funds and venture capital firms around the world have become enamored with crypto-native channels, pointing out that Superstate has 150 institutional clients globally, including well-known firms such as Arrington Capital, BitGo, CoinFund, Flowdesk, and ParaFi."

He not only said this but also did it. On July 14, Robert Leshner, the founder of Superstate, shared a link to an SEC 13D form on X, indicating his plan to acquire 57% of YHC's shares (most of the shares will be acquired at a price of $3.77 per share, roughly estimated at about $2 million). This is a low market cap alcohol company with a somewhat questionable history. He further stated that the next step is to replace the board and help the company explore new strategic directions.

As soon as the news broke, this publicly listed company, which initially had a market value of only 2 million dollars, saw its value increase by over 300% in just one week, reaching a market value of 1,100 dollars.

On July 18, just four days after the acquisition news was released, Robert Leshner posted to announce his abandonment of the control contest over LQR, stating that the company's continuous issuance of new shares diluted shareholder equity, causing his holdings to no longer have effective control. Leshner went on to say that he would not initiate a proxy or legal battle and planned to recommend community experts to LQR to help establish a cryptocurrency treasury. He emphasized that this matter highlighted the lack of transparency in traditional markets regarding share tracking and believed that this is precisely the problem that cryptocurrency technology can solve. Following the news, the company's market value evaporated again by 40%.

Some community members speculate that although acquiring a "shell company" to build a cryptocurrency treasury is quite common now, this matter may not be so simple. Jason Kam, the founder of Folius Ventures, believes there is a considerable probability that Robert bought this cheap shell company to retain some kind of "optionality" while advancing his Superstate business.

He speculated on a few possible development paths: "Robert Leshner and certain partners in discussion will inject a certain business into YHC and then force it through the Superstate process, making it a demonstration case for stock tokenization," or "Robert Leshner directly merges Superstate into YHC," or it could also be that "Robert Leshner uses this company as his holding platform, promoting his investment activities through physical contributions or matching methods on one hand, while advancing the business development of Superstate on the other."

Jason Kam also added, "Of course, it is also possible that nothing will happen, and he is just holding onto this shell company for now."

Summary

This path undoubtedly provides more access for institutional investors. However, whether it can support the asset net value premium in the long term still depends on the sustainability of the underlying assets. Unlike Bitcoin, which has strong consensus, SOL, as a yield-oriented asset, relies more on scenarios such as staking and DeFi usage to maintain its value anchor. If on-chain stocks cannot be quickly absorbed and integrated into the DeFi ecosystem, such as failing to effectively enter the lending market or become the underlying assets for market making, these companies will more likely be seen by the market as "knockoff MicroStrategy," and their valuation system will quickly revert to the old path of "SOL position discount + traditional business discount," rather than entering a new paradigm of "asset tool-type enterprises."

Upexi has taken the lead by listing its stock on Webull Corporate Connect and initiating Nasdaq derivative trading, while also laying out the path for tokenization with Opening Bell on-chain. Its dual market trading structure means that its stock volatility is influenced not only by the company's fundamentals and SOL price but also by factors such as on-chain clearing and leverage squeezes. This kind of high-leverage structure may attract the attention of crypto arbitrageurs and professional DeFi users in the short term, leading to a phase of capital influx and valuation jumps, but it also means that stock prices will become "tokenized," with volatility that may far exceed what traditional market investors can bear.

Once there is excessive leverage on-chain and asset prices fluctuate violently, the reverse liquidation mechanism may quickly turn a "stock price surge" into a "liquidation collapse." For companies attempting to achieve NAV premium continuation through "on-chain longevity," this is a double-edged sword. If a real on-chain financial closed loop has not been formed, the pricing of such companies is more likely to revert to the model of "crypto positions + revenue discounting," which may compress the originally hoped-for valuation imagination space.