The Three Giants' Bet on Forward Industries

Deng Tong, Golden Finance

On September 11, 2025, Kyle Samani, managing partner of Multicoin Capital, announced that he had successfully led a $1.65 billion PIPE financing for Forward Industries. Multicoin Capital, Jump Crypto, and Galaxy have all committed to investing over $100 million, and the company will use the net proceeds to launch its Solana Financial Company strategy. Kyle Samani personally invested an additional $25 million on top of the commitment made by Multicoin.

In addition, Kyle Samani will also serve as the chairman of the board of Forward Industries. Saurabh Sharma, the Chief Investment Officer of Jump Crypto, and Chris Ferraro, the President and Chief Investment Officer of Galaxy, have been granted board observer status.

What kind of company is Forward Industries? Why did the three giants spend $1.65 billion to bet on Forward Industry as the treasury for Solana? What is the future of Solana?

1. What company is Forward Industries?

Forward Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ: FORD) was founded in 1961 and is headquartered in Hopatcong, New Jersey. Forward Industries and its subsidiaries primarily engage in the design, manufacturing, procurement, marketing, and distribution of carrying and protective solutions. The company operates through its OEM distribution and design departments. The OEM distribution department procures and distributes carrying cases and other accessories for medical monitoring and diagnostic kits, as well as other portable electronic and non-electronic products, such as sports and leisure products, barcode scanners, GPS devices, tablets, and firearms. The design department provides hardware and software product design and engineering services. Forward Industries sells its products to original equipment manufacturers in the United States, Poland, Germany, China, and internationally.

2. Forward Industries' Solana Treasury Strategy

On September 8, Forward Industries announced that it will commit $1.65 billion in cash and stablecoins for a private equity investment ("PIPE") led by Galaxy Digital, Jump Crypto, and Multicoin Capital, to launch a digital asset fund management strategy focused on Solana, aligning the company with the rapidly growing Solana ecosystem. According to the announcement, Forward plans to position itself as a publicly traded institutional investment vehicle and aims to generate on-chain returns and long-term value through participation in the Solana ecosystem. Forward Industry's $1.65 billion SOL treasury fund is nearly three times the existing largest Solana treasury reserve fund.

One of the company's largest shareholders, C/M Capital Partners, LP, also participated in this transaction.

This PIPE has also received support and participation from multiple global investment firms and leaders in the digital asset ecosystem, including:

• Company/Enterprise: Big Brain Holdings, Bitwise Asset Management, Borderless Capital, Coinlist Alpha, Cyber Fund, C/M Capital Partners, LP, FalconX, Graticule Asset Management Asia, Jupiter, L1 Digital, ParaFi, Ribbit Capital, RockawayX, and SkyBridge Capital.
• Angel Investors: Cindy Leow (Drift), Guy Young (Ethena), Howard Lindzon (Stockwits), Lucas Bruder (Jito), Lucas Netz (Pudgy Penguins), Robert Leshner (Superstate), Tarun Chitra (Gauntlet), and Tory Green (io.net).

According to Forward Industry, Galaxy Digital will provide fund management, trading, lending, and staking services. Jump Crypto will support infrastructure development through projects like Firedancer and DoubleZero, while Multicoin Capital will provide strategic guidance and governance.

III. Why the Three Giants Splurged $1.65 Billion to Bet on Forward Industry as Solana's Treasury

Why Forward Industries?

As mentioned above, the businesses involved in Forward Industry include medical, electronics, hardware and software, etc. The rich product structure itself can offset market risks. Moreover, electronic devices, hardware and software are also the hardware basis for cryptocurrency mining, trading, storage, etc. As the cryptocurrency industry continues to develop, the demand for hardware such as mining and storage will continue to increase, and Forward Industry has a broad future prospect.

2. Why Solana?

As early as the end of August this year, Bloomberg pointed out that these three companies were raising 1 billion US dollars to acquire a publicly listed company to create the largest Solana treasury enterprise. Currently, the market generally has a positive outlook on Solana's development momentum, and the giants also have high expectations for Solana.

Mike Novogratz, the CEO of Galaxy Digital, believes that the current crypto market is entering the "Solana season," as market momentum and regulatory signals are favorable for blockchain. Solana is a blockchain tailored for financial markets, excelling in speed and transaction capacity. Solana and Ethereum represent healthy competition in rebuilding global financial infrastructure. As applications mature, multiple blockchains will coexist through bridges.

Kyle Samani, co-founder and managing partner of Multicoin, pointed out: "Since Multicoin led the seed round in 2018, I have been one of Solana's earliest and most active supporters. Despite Solana's resilience in adversity and remaining one of the highest-performing general-purpose blockchains, it is still widely misunderstood and underestimated by market participants. I believe this asymmetry creates a huge opportunity for Solana's capital management strategy."

Michael Pruitt, CEO of Forward Industries, stated: "Solana has become one of the most innovative and widely adopted blockchain ecosystems in the world. Our strategy for building an active Solana financial program highlights our confidence in the long-term potential of SOL, as well as our commitment to creating shareholder value through direct participation in its development. Collaborating with Galaxy, Jump Crypto, and Multicoin—companies with deep expertise and a strong track record in investing and building within the Solana ecosystem—provides a solid foundation for executing this strategy and positions the company as a key player in the digital asset space."

4. The Future of Solana

On September 10, Solana's market capitalization returned to $120 billion. On October 16, the market will welcome the SEC's approval decision on the Bitwise Solana ETF and 21Shares Core Solana ETF.

Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan pointed out that he expects the "Solana season" to arrive soon, with anticipated ETF approvals, subsequent inflows of funds, and corporate bond purchases driving Solana to achieve a rise similar to that of Bitcoin and Ethereum. "Solana will welcome an epic brilliance by the end of the year, with its selling points being speed and cost."

Solana is a programmable blockchain built for stablecoins, tokenized assets, and DeFi, with transaction costs of less than one cent, and can be completed in just a few milliseconds after upgrades - much faster than Ethereum. Unlike Ethereum, Solana does not rely on Layer 2, providing a more streamlined user experience. Although critics point out that Solana has greater centralization risks, it still holds a solid position, ranking third in stablecoin liquidity, fourth in tokenized assets, and its tokenized asset management has grown by 140% this year.

Greg King, the CEO of REX Financial, believes that in terms of stablecoins, Solana is the "future star" beyond Ethereum.

Industry insiders have pointed out that Solana currently has a 45% chance of surpassing its previous peak of $293 before the end of 2025, which is 19% higher than last month's probability, as its price soared by 22.50% during the same period.