SOL’s leading treasury firm, Forward Industries, has appointed Ryan Navi as chief investment officer to oversee the execution of the firm’s Solana-focused treasury strategy.
According to Monday’s announcement, Navi will be responsible for sourcing and structuring opportunities in the capital markets and will direct how Forward Industries uses its staking and validation infrastructure to support the accumulation of (SOL), Solana’s native token.
Navi joins Forward Industries after leading digital asset investments at ParaFi Capital and previously served as a director at investment company KKR, where he focused on liquid and distressed credit strategies. He began his career in investment banking at Citi.
Forward Industries, which pivoted from a global design firm serving medical and technology companies to launch its treasury strategy in September, is among the companies betting on SOL tokens as part of a crypto treasury strategy.
According to data from CoinGecko, Forward currently holds 6,910,568 SOL valued at around $863.5 million, which is equivalent to just over 1% of the total SOL in circulation.
In October, the company launched its first institutional-grade validator node on the Solana blockchain, expanding its presence in the ecosystem.
Forward authorized a $1 billion stock repurchase program in November, allowing the company to buy back shares through open market purchases, block trades or privately negotiated transactions.
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Solana treasury shares plummet
Several Solana-focused treasury companies debuted this year, and some saw their share prices rise sharply following their launch announcements.
In August, Sharps Technology shares rose more than 96% after the company announced its switch from a medical device manufacturer to focus on accumulating the native Solana token.
However, as the price of SOL has fallen more than 30% in the past month and is currently trading around $125 per token, the share prices of many of these companies have reflected the drop.
Solana Co. (HSDT), the second-largest SOL-focused digital asset treasury, fell nearly 37% over the past 30 days, while shares of DeFi Development Corporation (DFDV) plunged 40% over the same period.
Forward Industries has also come under pressure. Its shares have fallen nearly 80% from a high of $39 in September.
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