Forward Industries Tokenizes $1.65B Stock on Solana, Shares Drop 6.894%

Solana's latest price was $220.33, down 6.894% in the last 24 hours. Forward Industries, a Nasdaq-listed company, has announced a groundbreaking plan to tokenize its $1.65 billion stock on the Solana blockchain. This move positions the company as a leader in the growing integration of traditional equity with decentralized finance. Through a partnership with Superstate’s Opening Bell platform, Forward Industries plans to tokenize its stock, a decision that is expected to transform how public companies interact with blockchain technology. Under this agreement, shareholders will have the ability to convert their common stock into tokenized FORD shares. These tokenized shares will be available via Superstate’s Opening Bell platform, which launched in May 2025 as a regulated on-chain issuance tool. The initiative aims to enhance liquidity and provide near-instant settlement while enabling 24/7 trading for the company’s equity. As part of its efforts to expand its use of Solana, Forward Industries plans to collaborate with major Solana-based protocols like Drift, Kamino, and Jupiter Lend. These partnerships will allow FORD tokenized shares to be used as collateral within decentralized lending systems. This is a major step toward integrating traditional finance with decentralized infrastructure, said Kyle Samani, chairman of Forward Industries. The collaboration between Forward Industries and Superstate marks a significant moment in the blockchain industry. Forward Industries is taking an equity stake in Superstate to align interests and collaborate on further product development. The companies plan to explore new opportunities for tokenized equity in the future, further establishing Solana as a primary blockchain for public company listings. Superstate’s Opening Bell platform offers the advantage of decentralized issuance and a seamless, regulatory-compliant environment for equity tokenization. This partnership is poised to set a new standard for how traditional companies issue and trade their stocks. Forward Industries’ commitment to using Solana’s blockchain underlines the growing acceptance of blockchain in mainstream finance. Robert Leshner, CEO of Superstate, expressed optimism about the project. He said, “This is just the beginning of Solana becoming a hub for tokenized public equities.” With the launch of this tokenization initiative, Solana continues to gain traction as a top blockchain for decentralized finance and digital assets. Google integrated Solana price charts directly into its search results, marking another step in mainstream visibility for the high-performance blockchain platform. The search integration allows users to view real-time price data and charts for Solana without navigating to external cryptocurrency websites or trading platforms. Helius, a publicly traded company listed on NASDAQ, acquired 760,190 Solana tokens as part of its treasury strategy. The neurotechnology and medical device firm recently raised over $500 million in funding partnerships to establish a Solana-focused treasury. Corporate treasury adoption of crypto assets has surged in recent years, with companies like Strategy holding billions in Bitcoin. Helius’ move reflects a similar strategy for Solana, signaling growing institutional interest in alternative blockchains beyond Bitcoin. Solana’s ecosystem has grown rapidly, processing tens of thousands of transactions per second on average and hosting popular decentralized finance and NFT projects. The blockchain’s native token SOL is used for transaction fees, staking, and governance within its ecosystem. The move will be executed through the purchase of a local publicly listed company, according to sources familiar with the deal. The unveiling took place during Korea Blockchain Week at the Solana Oriental event, where Fragmetric co-founder Sang Kim had hinted days earlier that a “game-changing” announcement was on the horizon. For DFDV, the project represents more than just a local partnership—it ties into a broader initiative aimed at embedding Solana into corporate balance sheets worldwide. That global push has been formalized through the company’s “Treasury Accelerator,” a program designed to channel DFDV’s balance sheet into building new digital asset treasuries (DATs). One of its first steps was a $22.88 million injection into Flora Growth, a Nasdaq-listed cannabis company that will now transition into “ZeroStack” with the mission of accumulating Solana. DFDV’s own exposure to SOL is already substantial. The firm controls over 2 million tokens, worth nearly $500 million, and has continued to add to its holdings. Just last week, an additional 62,745 SOL were purchased, reinforcing its strategy of consistent accumulation. For South Korea, the arrival of a Solana treasury could mark the start of a new wave of corporate crypto adoption, positioning SOL not just as a DeFi backbone but as a treasury-grade digital asset. If successful, the move could serve as a blueprint for similar ventures across Asia and beyond. Solana's network experienced a significant interruption on February 22nd, halting block production for nearly five hours. Core engineers identified the root cause within problematic BPF (Berkeley Packet Filter) loader instructions. Swift remediation involved validators collaboratively restarting the network using a new cluster snapshot. This incident underscores the ongoing challenge of balancing high throughput demands with network stability. Engineering teams subsequently published a post-mortem analysis focusing on the specifics of the BPF loader flaw. The Solana ecosystem continues its expansion through strategic integrations and partnerships. A significant development includes Solana Mobile's upcoming Chapter 2 device exceeding 100,000 pre-orders, demonstrating strong market anticipation for enhanced mobile Web3 experiences. Further bolstering mobile utility, Helium Mobile announced plans to integrate SOL payments directly within its decentralized mobile service application by Q3 2025. On-chain infrastructure development remains active. Developers recently proposed the deployment of "Priority Fee Markets" directly within popular Solana wallets like Phantom. This feature aims to give users finer control over transaction prioritization during periods of high network congestion, potentially improving user experience. Concurrently, Unstoppable Domains announced support for Solana-based domain .sol logins via integration with Magic SDK, simplifying user authentication processes across Web3 applications. Decentralized physical infrastructure (DePIN) projects leveraging Solana are gaining traction. Helium finalized its migration to the Solana blockchain, transferring its extensive network of hotspots and MOBILE tokens. This move capitalizes on Solana's speed and scalability to manage the substantial data flow generated by decentralized wireless networks. MakerDAO's new proposal, the Endgame Plan, also involves Solana application chains, highlighting the network's potential for handling complex, large-scale decentralized systems. Uquid solidified its commitment to the Solana ecosystem by announcing the acceptance of SOL payments within its Shopify stores. Merchants using Uquid's platform can now seamlessly enable customers to pay with SOL, tapping into the cryptocurrency's growing user base for e-commerce transactions. This integration represents a practical application of Solana for everyday purchases.