Cantor initiates coverage of 3 solana companies, says SOL is “overlooked”

Amid the digital gold rush to mimic Strategy’s bitcoin treasury reserve, Cantor analysts initiated coverage of three companies that have opted for solana treasuries: DeFi Development Corp., Sol Strategies, and Upexi.

“bitcoin gets a lot of focus (rightfully so), but SOL is being overlooked,” they wrote in a June 16 note.

Cantor analysts argued that Solana is superior to its main competitor, Ethereum, namely because it “offers superior throughput and lower cost.”

Solana is the sixth-largest crypto, with a $79 billion market cap.

The analysts wrote:

“Developer growth on SOL has far exceeded that on ETH recently, and we expect this to continue. Thus, using SOL over ETH as a treasury asset makes sense: these businesses think that SOL can overtake ETH, which currently has a market cap that is ~259% higher than SOL.”

A big differentiator between SOL and BTC treasuries is the ability to stake, they argued, adding that this will help “Solana treasury companies growing SOL/share faster than BTC treasury companies growing BTC/share.”

They said, however, that bitcoin is still considered “the safest and most-decentralized digital asset with its primary use-case being a reserve asset protecting against monetary debasement.”

Joseph Onorati, CEO and chairman of DeFi Dev Corp., told Sherwood News that both ethereum and solana are suitable for a crypto treasury strategy.

“They are both highly volatile, earn native yield, and have active DeFi communities where a treasury strategy company could be active,” he said.

Cantor has an “overweight” rating on DeFi Dev and a $45 price target, a significant upside from the current price of $30.

Meanwhile, Cantor has an “overweight” rating on Upexi, with a $16 price target, representing a 60% upside from this morning’s price of $10.  

Brian Rudick, Upexi’s chief strategy officer, told Sherwood that he views bitcoin as the best monetary asset and solana as the best high-performance blockchain. 

“With so much of the success of a digital asset treasury company determined by the performance of the cryptocurrency it holds, it’s imperative for a digital asset treasury company to be underpinned by an endgame winning asset such as solana,” Rudick said.

Rudick also argued that it’s “the best high-performance blockchain for three reasons.”

It’s one of the first second-generation smart contract blockchains, enabling it to have both best-in-class technology and network effects; it also has one of the most vibrant ecosystems of users, developers, and dapps. 

“Lastly, Solana is leading on many key metrics, such as daily average users, dapp revenue, and DEX volumes, even at a smaller market cap compared to some other chains,” he added.

Finally, Cantor analysts have an “overweight” rating on Sol Strategies, with a CA$4 (US$2.95) price target, representing a 62% upside from the current price.

The Canadian publicly listed company recently filed an initial prospectus “allowing for up to $1B USD in potential financings.”

SOL Strategies CEO Leah Wald told Sherwood that Cantor’s coverage reflects the growing institutional recognition of solana’s potential.

“What matters is having the right chain for the right use case, and when it comes to choosing a unique treasury asset, solana’s unique principles provide for an interesting opportunity,” she said.

Yesterday, MemeStrategy, Asia’s first publicly listed digital asset company, announced it acquired 2,440 SOL, “establishing it as the first Hong Kong-listed company to invest in the Solana ecosystem,” according to a press release.