Solana gains momentum while Ethereum tries to hold ground

DeFi Development is rolling out a global franchise for its Solana-based treasury model, betting that its structure will appeal to crypto firms looking for something more aggressive than just stacking bitcoin.

The company is calling it the DFDV Treasury Accelerator, and it’s designed to give partners a way to operate their own Solana treasuries with backing from DeFi, while DeFi holds equity in every regional branch. This move was reported by CoinDesk.

The model flips the typical approach by mixing staking infrastructure, capital market strategies, and now international franchise operations. That combination is what makes the whole thing different, said Cosmo Jiang, general partner at Pantera Capital, one of DeFi’s supporters.

“Most crypto treasury vehicles today are following the MicroStrategy model. What excites us about DFDV is that they’re not just copying the playbook. They’re evolving it,” Cosmo said. Pantera had also backed Bitmine Immersion Technologies, an ether-focused treasury company tied to Peter Thiel and Tom Lee from Fundstrat.

Kraken, Arrington, and others eye franchise support

The list of possible partners doesn’t stop at Pantera. Kraken, Arrington, RK Capital, and Borderless Capital are also considering participation, not just through capital but also with help on validator services, custody solutions, and fundraising plans.

These aren’t soft partnerships. These are the kinds of groups that bring infrastructure into play, especially in areas like staking and long-term treasury maintenance.

The timing of this expansion is not random. The whole space is being flooded with treasury activity. Companies are spinning up crypto treasuries or jumping into SPACs to mirror MicroStrategy’s strategy of hoarding bitcoin on the balance sheet.

Bitmine isn’t alone. SharpLink Gaming recently kicked off its own ether treasury strategy in May, with Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin stepping in as board chairman. Then there’s Bit Digital, which pulled the plug on its bitcoin mining operation to lean fully into ETH staking instead.

DeFi’s move puts all of that focus directly on Solana. They aren’t just buying tokens; they’re accumulating and staking SOL, and they’re buying validators—the computers that secure and run the Solana blockchain. This is how staking works.

The more SOL they hold and stake, the more rewards they collect. The company recently published its first public SOL-per-share target, saying it’s aiming for 1 SOL per share by 2028. That goal starts from its current count of 857,749 SOL spread across 18.8 million shares, which brings the present figure to 0.0457 SOL per share.

DeFi CEO Joseph Onorati said this setup is their way of scaling globally without touching share dilution. “We’re exporting our framework for Solana treasury accumulation, while bringing global partners into the DFDV orbit, all aligned through economics, staking, and shared infrastructure. The opportunity is massive,” Joseph said.

Solana gains momentum while Ethereum tries to hold ground

Price movement helps make the case. Solana is now trading near $175.56, right around the neckline of a long-developing cup and handle pattern that started forming back in early 2025. That pattern began building off a $120 base and has now pushed the asset to critical resistance around $176 to $178. The last 12 months have seen a 7% increase, with almost 10% growth in just the past month, according to Coin Metrics.

But what might be more important than price is what’s happening in the real-world asset (RWA) space. Solana’s RWA activity is growing faster than Ethereum’s in 2025. RWAxyz data shows that Solana’s RWA total has risen from $173.8 million in January to $553.8 million, up 218% year-to-date and 22% in the past month. That’s a massive gain, especially compared to Ethereum’s slower growth.

To be fair, Ethereum still holds the lead in terms of total value. It controls $7.7 billion of the $13.5 billion worth of tokenized RWAs currently live on public networks. Solana’s share is still smaller, but with the pace it’s growing, it’s a threat to that lead. Ethereum’s RWA value has only climbed 81% this year, from $4.3 billion to $7.7 billion. Solana’s already more than tripled its number and isn’t slowing down.

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