The world’s largest publicly-traded Solana treasury company has lost roughly $1 billion holding $SOL, even while earning 6.7% staking rewards. Forward Industries launched its Solana treasury strategy on September 8, 2025, months after the crypto treasury bubble had already burst. The move came with a $1.65 billion private placement led by Galaxy Digital, Jump Crypto, and Multicoin Capital. Multicoin co-founder Kyle Samani personally added $25 million and became chairman.
A Strategy That Backfired
At the time of the announcement, the company proclaimed, “Our strategy to build an active Solana treasury program underscores our conviction in the long-term potential of $SOL.” That day, $SOL was trading at $206. Today, it trades at $91. Forward Industries currently holds 6,979,967 $SOL, which are now worth about $635 million, down from an initial cost basis of nearly $1.59 billion. That’s an average cost basis near $232 per coin.
Consider the company’s 10-Q for the quarter ended December 31, 2025. It reported a $585.65 million net loss, compared to a more modest $708,000 loss in the same quarter a year earlier. Of that loss, $560.2 million came from unrealized losses on digital assets — essentially the disastrous performance of $SOL. There was also a $33 million impairment on fwdSOL, the company’s own liquid-staking token, which tracks the price of $SOL.
All those losses were offset by just $17.4 million in staking revenue. That $17.4 million represents the 5-7% variable staking rewards that often dominate the company’s marketing materials. But those rewards have barely made a dent.
Investor Confidence Collapses
The strategy is bleeding investor confidence. Forward Industries’ stock, which hit $46 per share on September 12, 2025 after its PIPE fundraise, now trades at $4.71. That’s a decline of nearly 90%. The company’s market cap-to-Net Asset Value (mNAV) multiple has collapsed to 0.62x, meaning investors are willing to pay less for the company than the $SOL it holds. Depending on whether you use fully diluted or market cap valuation, the market values the entire company at 17% or 38% less than its $SOL, respectively.
Operating losses are relatively small but still compound shareholder losses. Over just one quarter, the company spent $1.398 million operating its Solana validator, plus $3.25 million in general and administrative expenses, and another $3.4 million for G&A to a “related party,” Galaxy. It also spent $535,000 on sales and marketing.
Fees on Top of Losses
Forward Industries paid Galaxy $3.44 million in a single quarter — roughly $1.7 million in asset management fees at 0.6% per annum. Through December 31 alone, the company had paid Galaxy approximately $4.37 million in fees. A good portion of its staking yields went straight back to the third party that designed the vehicle.
Meanwhile, CEO Michael Pruitt earned $873,817 in executive compensation across fiscal 2025, including a $713,817 options award. CFO Kathleen Weisberg earned $725,992. On April 13, 2026, an 8-K disclosed the hire of Mark Brazier as a new CFO at $500,000 base pay plus a targeted $250,000 bonus.
Forward Industries has accumulated more than 112,171 $SOL in staking rewards since inception, an advertised 6.73% APY before fees. At today’s $SOL price, those rewards are worth roughly $10.7 million. They don’t even cover the cost of validator operation, SG&A, and Galaxy payments, let alone the near-$1 billion loss on the $SOL holdings themselves.
Investors have noticed. One commenter asked in February, “Is this the dumbest corporate crypto move ever?” CoinGecko pointed out that FWDI’s percentage loss was “4x larger than Strategy,” referencing the once-massive unrealized losses at Michael Saylor’s bitcoin treasury company. For now, Forward Industries seems stuck holding a bag that keeps getting heavier.
