
Galaxy Digital, a prominent institutional digital assets firm, is significantly deepening its commitment to the Solana ecosystem, highlighted by a $1.65 billion private placement in Forward Industries to establish a substantial Solana digital asset treasury. This strategic move, alongside the emergence of critical infrastructure projects like DoubleZero, signals a strong institutional push towards on-chain finance. The firm's Head of DeFi, Marcryptonio, recently discussed these developments, emphasizing the future of global finance being built on-chain.
The investment in Forward Industries, led by Galaxy Digital, Jump Crypto, and Multicoin Capital, aims to create one of the largest institutional Solana treasury strategies. This initiative involves actively managing Solana exposure through staking, lending, and deploying capital across Solana-native strategies. Galaxy Digital views Solana as a leading blockchain capable of supporting the full spectrum of financial activity, citing its high throughput and low transaction fees.
Austin Federa, co-founder of DoubleZero and former Head of Strategy at the Solana Foundation, recently joined Marcryptonio to discuss the evolving landscape. DoubleZero is pioneering a new "N1" network layer, a global fiber network designed to increase bandwidth and reduce latency for distributed systems and blockchains. This infrastructure aims to provide a dedicated "private highway system" for blockchains, enhancing performance and reliability beyond the public internet.
DoubleZero's mainnet-beta recently went live, with approximately 22% of staked SOL already integrated into its network. The project, which raised $28 million at a $400 million valuation earlier this year, is seen as crucial for scaling blockchain applications to institutional levels. Its native 2Z token incentivizes network contributors and facilitates access to its high-speed routes.
Galaxy Digital's aggressive acquisition of Solana tokens, including recent purchases totaling over $1.55 billion, underscores its confidence in Solana's long-term viability. The firm's active participation in the ecosystem, combined with the development of foundational infrastructure like DoubleZero, positions Solana for increased institutional adoption. As stated by the Validated podcast, "You'll want to take an hour to listen to this," referring to the in-depth discussion on these transformative trends.