By: Oluwapelumi Adejumo, Cryptoslate
Compiled by: Luffy, Foresight News
According to a filing with the U.S. SEC, crypto investment firm Multicoin Capital has divested its stake in Forward Industries. Forward is currently the largest listed Solana treasury company.
In September 2025, Forward launched its Solana treasury strategy, raising $1.65 billion, with Multicoin, Galaxy Digital, and Jump Crypto serving as the three major investors. These three institutions collectively committed over $300 million, and Multicoin co-founder Kyle Samani became the Chairman of Forward.
Less than 8 months later, Multicoin Capital Management, Multicoin Capital Master Fund, and managing partner Tushar Jain have reported no longer having any beneficial ownership in Forward. A revised 13D filing submitted on May 8 marks the official completion of the firm's exit.
Multicoin's heavy early bets on Solana established its position in the industry. It was one of the most prominent institutional backers of the blockchain long before Solana's market cap climbed to around $44 billion, making this exit a subject of significant market attention.
Multicoin Gradually Reduced Stake, Amidst Rift with Samani
Multicoin completed its divestment through multiple transactions, with most Forward shares either repurchased by the company or transferred to entities controlled by Samani.
On March 19, Forward announced a $27.37 million repurchase of 6.16 million shares from an institutional investor at $4.44 per share. Quarterly filings show the counterparty was the Multicoin Capital Master Fund.
The funds for this repurchase came from a $40 million loan provided by Galaxy Digital, with a weighted average annual interest rate of approximately 3.4%. Forward used fwdSOL from its treasury as collateral. The company stated the funds were used for share repurchases and to support the overall digital asset treasury strategy.
Following this repurchase, Multicoin still held 6.24 million shares of Forward stock, including 4.46 million shares obtainable via warrants.
The remaining stake was subsequently transferred to Lemmings Holdings LLC. On April 30, Multicoin transferred the warrants for the 4.46 million shares to this entity; on May 5, it transferred another 1.78 million shares of common stock. Forward had previously disclosed that Lemmings is controlled by Kyle Samani.
Notably, Multicoin's Q1 13F holdings report still listed these 1.78 million shares; the latest Q2 filing shows no related holdings, confirming the shares disappeared from its publicly trackable stock portfolio after the transfer to Samani's entity in May.
Samani had already resigned as managing partner of Multicoin on January 31 this year but remained Chairman of Forward. The May 8 filing indicates the investment firm Multicoin's complete exit from Forward, while Samani's controlled entity retains a significant exposure.
In July, the divergence in views between Samani and his former firm became more public: Multicoin supported an industry initiative by the Hyperliquid Policy Center, which Samani publicly criticized as running counter to the efforts being pursued by Solana developers.
Nevertheless, Multicoin's management remains bullish on Solana. In June, Tushar Jain stated that Hyperliquid and the firm's Solana holdings were complementary: Solana handles spot issuance, payments, lending, and a broader range of on-chain capital markets, while Hyperliquid focuses on derivatives trading. Multicoin believes competition between the two ecosystems will intensify, with both potentially outperforming most other crypto sectors.
Forward Continues Buying Solana
Despite Multicoin's institutional-level departure, Forward remains committed to its Solana strategy.
Financial results for the fiscal year 2026 third quarter ended June 30 show the company added 508,618 SOL and equivalent assets during the quarter, bringing its total SOL holdings to approximately 7.55 million at quarter-end.
From July 1 to August 3, Forward further acquired 254,325 SOL equivalent assets at an average cost of around $75, raising its treasury SOL total to approximately 7.81 million.
Declining SOL prices impacted the asset portfolio, with Forward reporting a net loss of $69 million for the quarter, but the accumulation continued. At the end of June, the company held about $11 million in cash and had $105 million in debt to Galaxy; after the quarter ended, the borrowing further increased to $120 million.
During the quarter, Forward also repurchased over 2.5 million of its own shares, continuing its capital allocation strategy (including the share repurchase from Multicoin). Samani stated that the company's core goal remains to increase per-share value through treasury asset expansion and share repurchases.
Concurrently, Forward was successfully included in the Russell 2000 and Russell 3000 indices, potentially attracting more index-tracking institutional capital.
Currently, Forward no longer relies solely on accumulating SOL for returns. Chief Investment Officer Ryan Navi stated the company is diversifying its revenue sources and evaluating various acquisition targets to grow treasury assets and enhance its influence within the Solana ecosystem.
Investing in the Solana project OnRe is part of this diversification effort, with Forward seeking USD-denominated returns that have lower correlation with SOL's price. Navi also mentioned that the current market downturn may create opportunities for industry consolidation.
