Forward Industries forms crypto advisory board to guide Solana treasury strategy

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Quick Take

  • The Nasdaq-listed firm added 25 industry leaders to bolster its Solana-focused treasury plan.
  • Public Solana treasury companies now hold nearly 16 million SOL, with Forward accounting for almost half.

Nasdaq-listed Forward Industries (ticker FORD) has established a crypto advisory board of 25 members drawn from the Solana, DeFi, and traditional-finance sectors to help steer its Solana-centric corporate treasury.

The group includes Helium founder Amir Haleem, Backpack CEO Armani Ferrante, Drift Labs co-founder Cindy Leow, Superstate CEO Robert Leshner, and Gauntlet founder Tarun Chitra. Galaxy Digital executives Harry Austin and Michael Marcantonio also joined.

"Establishing a dedicated Crypto Advisory Board is an important milestone as Forward executes on its strategy to bring the value of the Solana ecosystem to investors," said Chairman Kyle Samani. "The caliber of leaders joining reflects growing conviction in Solana within global capital markets."

The move comes just weeks after Forward spent about $1.6 billion acquiring 6.8 million SOL and filed a $4 billion at-the-market equity offering to fund additional accumulation.

The Solana Foundation has played a key role in fueling this wave of Solana-based digital-asset treasuries, backing several listed firms with discounted SOL allocations, including Sharps Technology, Solana Company, and DeFi Development Corp. Forward's program, according to Bloomberg, was also endorsed by the foundation alongside its partners Galaxy Digital, Jump Crypto, and Multicoin Capital.

Data from The Block's corporate treasury dashboard shows public companies now hold roughly 15.9 million SOL, up from near zero at the start of 2025, with Forward representing the single largest holder.


Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.

© 2025 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

AUTHOR

Kyle is a reporter and editor at The Block, where he covers markets, exchange-traded funds, and crypto-related equities. He previously worked at DL News, BeInCrypto, and Bitcoinist, reporting on digital assets through multiple bear and bull cycles. Kyle first began learning about and investing in crypto in 2017 while living in Vietnam, where he spent a decade before returning to the US. He holds a degree in Sports Medicine from East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania.

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Editor

To contact the editor of this story: Jason Shubnell at [email protected]

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