TLDR
- Nasdaq-listed Brera Holdings is rebranding as Solmate after raising $300M for a Solana-based treasury
- Former Kraken CLO Marco Santori will lead Solmate as CEO with a board including economist Arthur Laffer
- The company will shift from sports ownership to accumulating SOL, staking, and running validator operations in Abu Dhabi
- ARK Invest, Pulsar Group, RockawayX, and the Solana Foundation backed the oversubscribed PIPE deal
- Institutional interest in Solana continues to grow with tracked entities now holding 15.83M SOL (2.75% of total supply)
Brera Holdings, previously focused on sports ownership with football clubs across Europe, has announced a major pivot into the cryptocurrency space. The Nasdaq-listed company is rebranding as Solmate and raised $300 million through an oversubscribed private investment in public equity (PIPE) to launch a Solana-focused digital asset treasury and infrastructure company.
The financing round was backed by several major players in the crypto and investment space. These include United Arab Emirates-based Pulsar Group, Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest, RockawayX, and the Solana Foundation.
JUST IN: Cathie Wood backs $300M Solana deal 🇮🇹⚽
Brera Holdings rebrands to Solmate, fueled by ARK Invest & Abu Dhabi capital to accumulate SOL.
Shares soared 225% 📈 as SOL climbed ~8.5% to $247.50.
Wall Street + sports clubs = new Solana treasury model. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/fRlMgBQidN— Jessica Gonzales (@lil_disruptor) September 19, 2025
Marco Santori, a partner at Pantera Capital and former chief legal officer at cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, will take the helm as CEO of Solmate. The leadership team will be strengthened by the addition of prominent economist Arthur Laffer, known for the “Laffer Curve,” who will join the board alongside RockawayX CEO Viktor Fischer. The Solana Foundation will appoint two additional board members.
The company’s new direction represents a complete shift from its previous focus on sports ownership. Solmate will now concentrate on building a Solana-based digital asset treasury (DAT) and developing infrastructure business around the cryptocurrency.
Building Infrastructure in Abu Dhabi
A key part of Solmate’s strategy involves establishing bare-metal servers in Abu Dhabi to run Solana validators. This move aligns with the company’s broader goal of expanding blockchain infrastructure in the United Arab Emirates.
Solmate also plans to pursue a dual listing on a UAE exchange while maintaining its current Nasdaq presence. According to Pulsar Group CEO Alyazi Al Khattal, Solmate will place Solana at the center of the UAE’s digital transformation agenda.
The company has secured a letter of intent with the Solana Foundation that provides discounted access to SOL tokens.
“Our stakeholders have deep, long-term conviction in the Solana ecosystem and will demand that we accumulate SOL through bull and bear markets alike,” said CEO Marco Santori.
Growing Institutional Interest in Solana
Solmate joins a growing trend of institutional interest in Solana. Currently, 16 tracked entities hold a combined 15.83 million SOL, equivalent to about 2.75% of the token’s total supply and worth nearly $4 billion at current prices.
Of the total institutional holdings, 9.35 million SOL is actively staked, accounting for 1.63% of supply and generating an average yield of 7.7%. Forward Industries leads institutional holders with 6.82 million SOL worth about $1.63 billion, followed by Sharps Technology with 2.14 million SOL and DeFi Development Corp with 2.10 million SOL.
Galaxy Digital recently disclosed purchases of 6.5 million SOL worth approximately $1.55 billion over just five days, including $306 million in a single day. The company also participated in a $1.65 billion private placement for Forward Industries alongside Multicoin Capital and Jump Crypto.
Another Nasdaq-listed company, Helius Medical Technologies, announced a $500 million private placement to build a Solana-focused corporate treasury. This initiative is led by Pantera Capital and Summer Capital, with plans to scale SOL holdings over the next two years.
DeFi Development Corp. is expanding its Treasury Accelerator program and will deploy between $5 million and $75 million per vehicle into other digital asset treasuries worldwide. The firm expects these commitments to be funded in cash or in-kind Solana, with any gains reinvested into more SOL.
At the time of writing, SOL was trading around $249, up 38.7% over the past 30 days and nearly 10% over the week. However, it remains about 15% below its all-time high of $293.31 reached on January 19, 2025.
