Forward Industries just crossed a line most public companies have only talked about.
On Thursday, the Solana-focused treasury firm launched tokenized shares of its FWDI stock using Superstate’s Opening Bell platform. The result is something new for public markets: real, regulated equity that can be used directly inside DeFi protocols.
This is not a synthetic token or a wrapped product. These are actual SEC-registered shares, now living on the Solana blockchain.
From Public Equity to DeFi Asset
Forward’s shares now exist as SPL tokens on Solana, making them natively compatible with the network’s decentralized finance ecosystem. The company first announced plans to tokenize its stock back in September, when it was still trading under the ticker FORD. That name was later changed to FWDI to avoid confusion with the automaker.
The move fits naturally with Forward’s balance sheet. The firm holds roughly 6.8 million SOL, representing about $832 million in net asset value, making it the largest Solana treasury company by a wide margin.
Backed by Major Crypto Players
Forward’s transformation into a Solana-native treasury has been backed by Galaxy Digital, Jump Crypto, and Multicoin Capital. According to data tracked by The Block, Forward’s SOL holdings exceed the combined total of the next three largest SOL treasuries.
That scale matters. It gives the company both financial weight and credibility as it experiments with new market infrastructure.
What Makes Opening Bell Different
Superstate’s Opening Bell platform allows companies to issue non-synthetic, real shares directly on blockchain networks. On Solana, those shares use the SPL token standard. On Ethereum, they use ERC-20.
The key distinction is that these are not derivatives. They are not wrappers. They are the shares themselves, issued on-chain. Opening Bell launched in May 2025 and is designed to bring traditional securities directly into programmable financial systems.
Tokenized Stock Goes Live in DeFi
Forward highlighted a concrete use case right away.
Tokenized FWDI shares can be used as collateral on Kamino, a Solana-based lending protocol. That allows holders to borrow stablecoins against their equity positions, just like they would with crypto assets.
The integration is supported by Pyth’s real-time price feeds, ensuring accurate on-chain pricing. Forward describes this as the first example of a regulated public equity functioning as collateral in a live DeFi market.
Governance and Legal Rights Stay Intact
One concern with tokenized securities is whether shareholder rights survive the transition. In this case, they do.
Superstate acts as the transfer agent, holding the tokenized shares under its name while tracking ownership across non-custodial Solana wallets. Tokenized FWDI holders retain voting rights, and transfers update instantly on the official shareholder register on-chain.
Legally, the tokenized shares are equivalent to traditional ones. The only difference is how they move and how they can be used.
A Bridge Between TradFi and DeFi
Kyle Samani, founder of Multicoin Capital and chairman of Forward, said the move creates a bridge between traditional capital markets and programmable financial systems that are shaping the digital economy.
That framing captures the bigger picture. This is not just about one stock. It is about making public equities composable, programmable, and usable alongside crypto-native assets.
Part of a Larger Trend
Forward is not alone.
Galaxy previously tokenized GLXY shares using Opening Bell, and Securitize plans to launch Stocks on Securitize next quarter, enabling public companies to issue real equity on-chain. Superstate is also preparing Direct Issuance, which would allow firms to issue new tokenized securities without underwriters.
Taken together, these moves suggest tokenized equities are shifting from experimentation to execution.
For Forward Industries, bringing FWDI stock onto Solana is both a technical milestone and a statement. Public equities are starting to behave like on-chain assets, and DeFi is no longer limited to crypto alone.
