Ken Griffin, the billionaire and CEO of Citadel, recently announced a 4.5% stake in DeFi Development Corp. (DFDV), a company dedicated to managing digital asset treasuries focused on Solana.
According to a Schedule 13G filing with the US SEC, Griffin owns more than 1.3 million shares, equating to approximately 4.5% of DeFi Development’s total common stock.
Furthermore, Citadel Advisors LLC and its affiliates disclosed ownership of around 800,000 DFDV shares, representing about 2.7% of the company’s total outstanding stock.
This announcement illustrates the increasing interest from Wall Street in digital assets. A recent a16z Crypto report noted that institutional adoption is accelerating, with big players like BlackRock, JPMorgan Chase, Fidelity, and Citigroup expanding their involvement in this sector.
Citadel Advisors LLC acts as the investment management branch of the Citadel hedge fund and is a registered investment advisor with the SEC. Citadel is estimated to manage approximately $65 billion in assets across its portfolio.
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Intensifying Competition Among Digital Asset Treasury Firms
DeFi Development Corp. is now the second-largest treasury company for Solana (SOL), as part of a growing group competing to amass this digital currency. Just last month, the firm acquired $117 million worth of SOL over a span of eight days, elevating its treasury holdings to more than $400 million.
In the last month alone, DeFi Development Corp. has procured 86,307 SOL, bringing its total holdings to 2,195,926 SOL. Although the value has recently dipped under $400 million due to a broader market sell-off, with a cost basis around $236 million, the company remains profitable.
The only firm with a larger Solana treasury is Forward Industries, boasting about 6.82 million SOL—almost three times that of DeFi Development Corp.
DeFi Development Corp’s SOL acquisitions. Source: CoinGecko
The emergence of digital asset treasury (DAT) strategies highlights a trend where firms aim to enhance their financial positions and attract investors by investing in high-growth crypto assets. However, analysts warn that this approach comes with significant risks.
David Duong, head of institutional research at Coinbase, mentioned in an interview, “regulatory shifts, liquidity, and market pressures could drive consolidation within the digital asset treasury domain, likely with larger companies absorbing their smaller counterparts.”
Standard Chartered analysts have cautioned that numerous DAT firms might encounter issues as their market net asset value (mNAV) decreases. The mNAV reflects the company’s market valuation relative to its crypto holdings. Prolonged market downturns could hinder DATs in acquiring new funding to grow their treasuries.
Standard Chartered specifically identified DeFi Development Corp. as experiencing valuation pressures due to shifting market dynamics.
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