Catenaa, Friday, May 30, 2025-DeFi Development Corp.’s strategy to actively manage its solana holdings offers a distinct advantage over traditional exchange-traded funds, according to Marco Santori, general partner at Pantera Capital and board member at the decentralized finance firm.
Speaking Wednesday during an X Space event, Santori said the company’s focus on solana aims to capitalize on decentralized finance features such as staking and liquidity provisioning – options not available to passive ETF holders.
He said the approach allows the firm to increase its holdings and returns through on-chain participation rather than relying solely on market appreciation.
“The goal from the start was to build a more productive way to accumulate solana than simply tracking it through an ETF,” Santori said.
“We’re actively involved in DeFi, which gives us access to treasury strategies that boost revenue and improve solana-per-share value.”
DeFi Development Corp. holds more than 400,000 SOL and is finalizing a $3.5 million deal to acquire a Solana validator business.
That move will support self-staking, a practice Santori called critical to maximizing the firm’s decentralized yield generation.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission is yet to approve any spot solana ETFs and has not clarified rules around staking for crypto-based funds.
Last week, the agency postponed a decision on whether to permit staking in Ethereum ETFs, citing ongoing regulatory review.
Santori, who joined Pantera Capital in April, previously served as chief legal officer at crypto exchange Kraken.
