Executives at DeFi Development (NASDAQ:DFDV) used the company’s Q1 2026 earnings call to reaffirm that its central strategy remains building leveraged exposure to Solana, while also outlining how partnerships, capital allocation and ecosystem initiatives are intended to support growth in SOL per share.
Joseph Onorati, chief executive officer of DeFi Development Corp., said the company has not moved away from its stated mission of holding and growing a large reserve of Solana. “The purpose of the company is to offer investors with leveraged Solana exposure,” Onorati said. He added that initiatives including validators, partnerships, on-chain treasury deployment, the Treasury Accelerator program and ApeX are all intended to “amplify SOL accumulation.”
Runway and Operating Costs
Chief Financial Officer John Han said the company is focused on runway, capital allocation and sustainability, particularly given the volatility of crypto markets. Responding to a question about whether the company could sustain operations if Solana prices fell sharply, Han said DeFi Development is confident it has funds to operate for “well over two years” at current Solana prices and staking revenue levels.
Han said the company runs periodic runway models for internal purposes and for auditors, including downside scenarios. He said management is “laser-focused on reducing OPEX wherever possible” to improve SOL per share growth.
While the company continues to make selective high-conviction bets that may involve one-time costs, Han said debt service remains “very manageable” and that the company maintains a “very comfortable runway” even if Solana prices were to fall 50% from current levels. He also said management remains bullish on Solana over the long term.
Experimentation Tied to SOL Per Share
Dan Kang, chief strategy officer and head of investor relations, said DeFi Development’s experimentation strategy follows a capital allocation framework in which any investment must clear the return threshold of buying SOL directly. Kang said management views certain initiatives as asymmetric bets, where downside is limited and upside could be significantly larger than the upfront cost.
Kang pointed to ZeroStack Corp. as an example, saying the structure of that deal allowed DeFi Development to earn staking rewards and generate a return above its investment, with what he described as an effectively zero economic cost to the company. He also cited ApeX, which he said brought a $400 million project to life in total value locked within weeks while requiring only a fraction of the balance sheet upfront.
Onorati said the company determines disclosure based on legal materiality and will disclose items it deems material. He said the Bonk initiative was included as an example of a public miss, though he added that the costs were largely legal expenses and team time. Onorati said the Bonk validator partnership itself was relatively low cost and likely generated some revenue.
Kang said the Bonk partnership’s exact contribution to SOL per share is difficult to quantify, but he said it increased attention, brought in crypto-native investors and tripled DeFi Development’s average daily volume in the weeks following the announcement.
Treasury Accelerator and Partnerships
Chief Operating Officer and Chief Investment Officer Parker White said DeFi Development is seeking to support Solana adoption through marketing and ecosystem development. White said the company wants to be, “in our own way, the Michael Saylor for Solana,” by telling the Solana story to investors and acting as an evangelist for the asset.
White highlighted the company’s recent partnership with Jupiter Lend, a partnership with Allied Architects in Japan through its Treasury Accelerator program, and continuing progress on DFDV UK. He said these efforts are meant to help grow the Solana ecosystem while allowing some of that value to accrue back to DeFi Development.
Asked about the timeline for SOL per share contributions from Treasury Accelerator initiatives, White said some unrealized impact may appear within six months, but the company views the relationships as long-term opportunities. He said success may take “many, many years” to evaluate fully.
Onorati added that the Treasury Accelerator program may have limited impact in flat or bear markets, but could provide “outsized upside” in a bull market when demand for Solana exposure increases. White described these initiatives as “call options” on Solana digital asset treasuries in markets such as Japan and the United Kingdom.
Regarding Allied Architects, White said there is no operating agreement in place today and no current operating commitments that would create ongoing costs. He declined to discuss any possible future asset management agreements, but said additional costs would need to come with corresponding revenue and upside.
Capital Structure and Leverage
White said DeFi Development wants to preserve flexibility in managing convertible debt and other financing tools. He said the company generally prefers not to sell SOL to repurchase debt, but would evaluate market opportunities if they were favorable for SOL per share growth. He noted that buying back convertible notes can also retire future conversion obligations.
On leverage, White said the company’s long-term target is roughly 30%, though that ratio will fluctuate with Solana prices. He said DeFi Development does not want to become a forced rebalancer by adding leverage in bull markets and deleveraging in bear markets. Instead, the company aims to maintain a prudent leverage profile while keeping cash reserves for coupon or preferred dividend payments.
Solana Use Cases and Ecosystem Outlook
White said recent experience launching a project on Ethereum reinforced the company’s bullish view on Solana from both technology and liquidity perspectives. He described Solana as a clear second-place liquidity platform behind Ethereum’s base layer and said it offers a better user experience for launching and managing projects.
White highlighted stablecoin growth, agentic AI payments using the X402 standard, the expected Alpenglow upgrade and real-world asset tokenization as areas supporting the company’s Solana conviction. He said Alpenglow could reduce finality times to roughly 100 to 150 milliseconds and potentially put Solana closer to Web2 performance levels, opening new application categories.
Kang added that DeFi Development’s shareholder letter noted that 94% of tokenized equity spot volume has settled on Solana.
On privacy-focused networks such as Canton and Zcash, Onorati said he is personally bullish on privacy and acknowledged that non-privacy-focused blockchains may face disadvantages over the long term. However, he said he is not worried about Solana in the short term, adding that he expects privacy layers or tools to be built on top of Solana if market demand requires them.
About DeFi Development (NASDAQ:DFDV)
We are a B2B fintech marketplace connecting commercial property borrowers and lenders with a human touch. We seek to revolutionize the commercial real estate lending market by making it hyper-efficient, transparent, and accessible to all rather than the few. Through our online platform, we provide technology that connects commercial mortgage borrowers looking for capital to refinance, build, or purchase commercial property, including, but not limited to, apartment buildings, to commercial property lenders.
