Solana Treasury Firm Authorizes Flexible CHAD Share Buybacks Below 10

DeFi Development Corp., the treasury firm behind Solana, has authorized a program to repurchase up to all outstanding CHAD preferred shares. The authorization allows the company to buy back shares through open-market or private transactions, but it does not currently plan to do so. The move is aimed at establishing CHAD around its $10 stated value, with repurchases only considered if the shares trade below that level. CEO Joseph Onorati emphasized that the primary goal is to get CHAD to par value before any buybacks occur.

The timing of this announcement is notable as DeFi Development has been expanding its Solana treasury. The firm recently added about 26,203 SOL, bringing its total holdings to approximately 2,564,212 SOL, valued at around $302 million. This strategy involves holding and staking SOL while operating validator infrastructure to generate staking rewards and fees, which supports CHAD’s dividend structure.

CHAD began paying its first dividend on October 1, offering a 13% annual dividend rate on its $10 stated amount, equivalent to $1.30 per share annually. The dividends are paid each business day when declared, and the structure is designed to connect preferred-stock financing with the company’s productive SOL treasury. However, the distinction between the 13% stated dividend rate and CHAD’s market price remains important for investors.

As of October 6, SOL was trading around $120.40, with a market capitalization near $71 billion and a 24-hour trading volume around $2.5 billion. The relatively stable price of SOL provides a backdrop for DeFi Development’s continued accumulation of the token, rather than indicating that the CHAD announcement itself moved SOL. The next test for CHAD will be whether it can establish itself at par and develop enough liquidity to become a repeatable funding source.