Nasdaq-listed Forward Industries (FWDI) is in a unique position to shore up the distressed digital asset cash flow space because it carries no corporate debt and is completely unlevered, giving it the ability to play offense while its peers retreat, according to Ryan Navi, the company’s chief investment officer.
“Scale and an unleveraged balance sheet is a real advantage in this market. We can play offense when others are playing defense,” Navi told CoinDesk in an interview.
“Forward Industries has strategically avoided leverage and gearing, which gives us the flexibility to deploy leverage responsibly when market opportunities arise,” Navi said. “The foundation we have built for Forward allows us to operate effectively in market conditions with ample opportunity and positions us to act as a net consolidator rather than a forced seller,” he added.
Digital asset treasury companies, whose balance sheets are heavily focused on cryptocurrencies, are under increasing pressure amid the recent market downturn. Falling cryptocurrency prices have compressed asset values and pushed debt upwards, forcing some companies to sell part of their crypto holdings to service debt and shore up liquidity, raising questions about the sustainability of the model in prolonged bear markets.
Forward Industries is no exception. With around 7 million solana Tokens acquired at an average price of $232, the company’s stack is worth around $600 million at SOL’s current level, just above $85. This represents a paper loss of approximately $1 billion. FWDI stock has fallen from a high of nearly $40 at the height of last year’s digital asset treasury frenzy, to the current price of just above $5.
Become a Solana Treasure Giant
Forward Industries’ center of gravity shifted sharply in 2025, when it raised approximately $1.65 billion in a private equity investment led by Galaxy Digital, Jump Crypto, and Multicoin Capital. The deal transformed the company into the largest solana-focused treasury company in the public markets, with stakes larger than those of its next three competitors combined. The strategy is simple: accumulate SOL, stake it for on-chain yield, and use the company’s cost of capital advantage to generate per-share upside over time.
Buying in a Dislocated Market
Navi, who joined the firm in December after serving as a director at KKR and a managing director at ParaFi Capital, said crypto stocks remain deeply dislocated, creating opportunities for disciplined, highly accretive capital allocation. When sentiment improves and stocks trade above NAV, Forward can issue shares to buy more crypto; When markets are weaker, it may be easier to generate accretion, he said, as prices and expectations are already compressed.
Why Solana
The bet on Solana is as much about fundamentals as it is about positioning. Although Ethereum remains the dominant smart contract platform in terms of market capitalization and decentralization, Navi says it has become slower and more expensive, with Layer 2 networks fragmenting liquidity and, in his view, diluting value at the base layer.
Solana, on the other hand, is optimized for speed, cost, and finality, qualities that matter most for consumer applications and financial markets use cases. Viral moments like the meme-driven surge in activity last year proved that the chain can handle millions of users and extraordinary transaction throughput, even if those applications themselves were ephemeral. “It showed what was possible,” Navi said. “It’s a question of when, not if, the next breakout application will come.”
Lower cost of capital
Forward’s balance sheet flexibility goes beyond simple buy-and-hold. The company is banking its SOL at a yield of around 6-7%, a rate that will gradually decline as Solana’s scheduled issuance declines and supply becomes increasingly disinflationary.
It has also partnered with Sanctum to issue a liquid staking token, fwdSOL, which earns staking rewards while remaining usable as collateral in decentralized finance (DeFi). On sites like Kamino, Navi said, Forward can borrow against this collateral at costs lower than the staking yield, creating a more capital efficient structure than most of its peers can access.
A permanent capital game
Longer term, Navi views Forward as a permanent capital vehicle rather than a transaction, closer to a Berkshire Hathaway than a fund with redemptions or a fixed life. This opens the door to underwriting real-world assets, token royalties and other cash flow activities that offset the company’s cost of capital and can potentially be integrated internally.
“We are not running a trading book, we are building a long-term Solana treasury,” Navi said. “What sets Forward apart is discipline: no leverage, no debt, and a long-term view of Solana as strategic infrastructure rather than a short-term bet.”
In the short term, he added, widespread tensions in the sector have pushed many digital asset treasury companies to trade at deep discounts, paving the way for consolidation.
With no leverage, deep support from blue-chip crypto investors, and the largest SOL balance in the public markets, Navi believes Forward is one of the few companies well-positioned to lead this consolidation.
Kyle Samani announced Wednesday that he is stepping down as chief executive officer of Multicoin Capital while remaining president of Forward Industries. In particular, he leaves the Multicoin Master Fund in FWDI shares and warrants rather than in cash.
Learn more: Forward Industries launches $4 billion ATM offering to expand Solana’s cash flow
