Forward holds over 6.8 million SOL tokens after a $1.65 billion private round.
Forward Industries will let shareholders tokenize their stock on the Solana blockchain. The company is working with Superstate’s Opening Bell platform to facilitate the tokenization process.
Tokenizing FORD shares will allow shareholders to trade around the clock, with faster settlement, and access to global liquidity. Opening Bell is a platform that makes tokenizing stocks according to regulations possible for public companies.
The tokenized FORD shares will work inside Solana’s DeFi protocols. Forward is already in talks with Drift, Kamino, and Jupiter Lend. These protocols may accept tokenized FORD as collateral. This would give holders the ability to borrow or lend against shares while keeping equity exposure.
Chairman of Forward Industries, Kyle Samani, said tokenizing FORD makes the company on-chain focused. He also believes that Solana will play a central role in future financial markets.
Superstate’s CEO Robert Leshner said the deal marks the beginning of Solana becoming the home of public capital markets. The Opening Bell platform, which launched in May 2025, makes traditional shares programmable and usable in digital finance.
Leshner said, “Through Superstate Opening Bell, Forward’s common shares will be tokenized on Solana, and shareholders will be able to bridge FORD between brokerage accounts and Solana.”
Forward Industries will also take an equity stake in Superstate to develop new on-chain products. The company said this step supports its plan to make capital markets operate directly on blockchain systems.
The announcement comes after Galaxy Digital became the first Nasdaq-listed company to issue tokenized equity on Solana. Galaxy also used Superstate’s Opening Bell platform to tokenize its shares. That deal gave legal precedent and technical proof that public shares can exist directly on-chain.
Forward is perfect for such DeFi integration because of its Solana treasury size. Earlier this month, the company closed a $1.65 billion private round. Galaxy Digital, Jump Crypto, and Multicoin Capital led the deal. The financing made Forward the largest Solana DAT treasury among other public companies. The company now holds more than 6.8 million SOL tokens and plans to expand its position more.
The partnership with Superstate will link Forward’s treasury strategy to equity markets. Tokenized FORD will not only trade but also plug into lending and liquidity systems. That could create a new type of capital access to shareholders. Holders will be able to bridge shares between brokerage accounts and blockchain wallets.
If successful, the effort will give Forward Industries a dual identity. It will remain a Nasdaq-listed equity. At the same time, it will function as a DeFi-ready asset inside Solana. The project shows how public companies may use tokenization to connect equity markets with blockchain technology and finance.
Don’t just read crypto news. Understand it. Subscribe to our newsletter. It’s free.
