Our firm’s mandate is to focus on long-term value creation for Solana and other priority ecosystems. We’ve done that by backing promising startups and novel products, or incubating them ourselves.
And as big SOL bag holders, we’ve been courted by many a DAT-preneur.
But as DATs have grown in prominence, we have remained patient; even as a trade idea, we have been cautious about their risk/return proposition. To us, many DATs’ premiums to their underlying crypto holdings seem unlikely to persist and, coupled with low trading volumes, could result in capital impairment.
So, why are we biting in a meaningful way now?
Like the Solana Foundation, we see that, on the sheer basis of the capital and public attention they command, DATs are a gateway to the world beyond the onchain reality. So, in the spirit of “taking the world as it is,” getting involved with one gives us insight into these entities’ operations and, ideally, we can help them promote the long-term best interests of the Solana ecosystem.
Furthermore, while we believe many of these vehicles are poorly structured, they don’t actually have to be. When a DAT is carefully designed and well-positioned to create long-term value, by serving as a performant manager in earning returns above simply holding and staking the asset, it can merit an enduring premium, as is the case with Strategy, which has maintained its mNAV premium above 1.3 since its 2024 inception.
To us, the right DAT to get on board with needed formal alignment with the Solana Foundation, a structure that puts investors first, and a commitment to actively participate in the Solana economy as a yield earner. Only then could it fully leverage our firm’s diverse strengths, especially our credit fund’s expertise in onchain strategies and our leadership in validator infrastructure, hardware performance, and network security.
We’ve found all that in Solmate (formerly Brera Holdings PLC [Nasdaq: BREA]). It has notched a partnership with the Solana Foundation, has an ambitious roadmap for yield generation, and will participate in innovative projects that should elevate Solana use cases and regional adoption. Marco Santori, former General Partner at Pantera Capital and Kraken Chief Legal Officer, will be installed as Solmate CEO. Supporting him are board members Viktor Fischer, Managing Partner and CEO of RockawayX, globally-renowned economist Dr. Arthur Laffer (inventor of the Laffer Curve), and two additional board seats to be appointed by the Solana Foundation.
We believe Solmate can become for Solana what Strategy is for Bitcoin. Earning the premium is possible, and we’re also owning that responsibility, serving as the asset manager tasked with generating yield on the company’s SOL holdings.
The launch begins with a low initial mNAV of 0.99x, and Solmate aims to be the first treasury company dual-listed on Nasdaq and ADX, the UAE exchange, with plans to expand into Europe, making it the first truly global digital asset treasury vehicle.
More than just a check
Our partnership with Solmate is a continuation of how we operate across our portfolio, pairing investment conviction with action by providing unique, hands-on support.
In this case, we’re working to advance Solmate’s SOL/share, which the company is approaching through three key mechanisms, which combined should generate an 11%+ APY for shareholders, exceeding that of simply holding JitoSOL (6.61%):
Generating above-SOL returns through RockawayX’s onchain yield strategy
Our team’s DeFi yield strategy has an industry-leading three-year track record of zero down months and 19% net return in 2024.
The team is part of DeFi’s backbone, serving as a foundational liquidity provider to varied protocols across DeFi lending, RWAs, infrastructure, and innovative applications with working capital demands.
For years, we have been one of the largest liquidity providers across Solana’s ecosystem, bootstrapping launches and improving user experiences.
Staking SOL
Our infrastructure team is leading efforts to custom-build a top-performing metal server-based Solana validator in Abu Dhabi. With it, Solmate will capture staking yields while also providing Middle Eastern investors with a premier local option to stake SOL.
Until now, most regional investors have had to delegate their stake abroad. With Solmate’s validator, that capital can finally stay in the region, bringing their stake home to the UAE.
Solana Venture Studio
Solmate will launch a venture studio in Abu Dhabi in partnership with the Solana Foundation to drive developer activity and ecosystem growth across the region.
SOL and DATs
Every major industry that migrated onto the internet created multi-trillion-dollar platforms. Finance is undergoing that transition today through asset tokenization.
There are ~$110 trillion in public equities, ~$140 trillion in fixed income, ~$380 trillion in real estate, ~$13 trillion in private equity, ~$23 trillion in gold, and hundreds of trillions in derivatives. Bringing even a fraction of traditional finance’s largest asset classes onchain represents the largest market migration in history and a decatrillion-dollar opportunity.
Solana is the most ready-to-implement backbone of internet capital markets, delivering the performance, scale, and ecosystem depth needed to facilitate this migration. The network consistently processes more than 100 million transactions per day, surpassing the combined volume of Ethereum, all Layer 2s, Bitcoin, Polygon, Avalanche, and Ripple, and leads the industry in onchain financial activity and user engagement, ranking first in DEX volumes at >$3.5 billion daily, rivaling centralized exchanges.
Because of its leading performance, Solana already has an enviable asset market. It leads all blockchains in total equities tokenized, capturing 90-95%+ of daily trading volume across all chains, led by the launch of xStocks, which has cleared $4 billion in cumulative volume since its launch on June 30. It also has vibrant tokenized bond, commodities, and alternative asset offerings.
As a bedrock for this economic activity, SOL itself is a uniquely productive reserve asset for treasuries. Staking yields currently average around 7%, compared with Ethereum’s ~3%, with roughly 1.9% representing real yield from organic economic activity and MEV. This yield premium positions SOL as a compelling core holding for investors seeking capital appreciation and ongoing income generation, like DATs, which are still in their infancy on Solana.
Today, on a relative basis, Solana’s DATs represent only ~2.2% of its fully diluted valuation, compared with 3.2% for Ethereum and 3.5% for Bitcoin, implying significant space for growth as tokenized markets expand. In particular, should Solana DATs match Ethereum’s, they would need to purchase another $1.4b worth of SOL.
As institutional adoption accelerates and tokenized markets scale, we believe this imbalance will correct. For investors, that creates a near-term opportunity to gain exposure to Solana through structured vehicles like Solmate, ahead of broader repricing.
Looking Ahead
Solmate is launching at a pivotal moment for both Solana and the UAE, which is now home to a large group of key ecosystem project founders and investors. With its Solana Foundation partnership and long-term oriented design, it introduces a structure capable of delivering yield while advancing Solana’s adoption in one of the world’s fastest-growing financial hubs.
For RockawayX, Solmate channels our resources and expertise in yield strategies, infrastructure, and regional networks into a vehicle that aims to connect institutional capital with Solana’s future. In doing so, it reinforces Solana’s role as the crossroads of traditional finance’s onchain migration.
To learn more about Solmate, visit their website and follow their official X to stay updated on progress.
Disclaimer
This is a marketing communication and is provided for informational purposes only. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. The value of investments can decrease as well as increase, and investors may not recover the full amount originally invested. You should ensure you understand the potential risks before making any investment decisions.
This marketing communication does not constitute and shall not be construed as an offer, solicitation, invitation or recommendation to purchase or sell any investment, shares, interest in, or assets from Solmate and/or RockawayX.
This marketing communication may contain forward-looking statements, including projections, forecasts and estimates. Such statements are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.
The views expressed reflect RockawayX’s opinions at the time of publication and may change without notice as market conditions or other circumstances evolve. Nothing contained herein should be construed as investment, tax, legal, or other professional advice, nor does it take into account the specific objectives, financial situation, or needs of any particular investor.
RockawayX, its affiliates, and its funds may hold or trade positions in securities or assets referenced in this communication before or after its publication.
