Cathie Wooden’s ARK Make investments has named Canada-based SOL Methods as its unique staking companion for the corporate’s Digital Property Revolutions Fund.
Beneath the partnership, ARK Make investments will transfer its validator operations to the SOL Methods staking infrastructure. Created in 2020, the Fund sometimes invests in 10 to 12 cryptocurrencies aiming to generate returns over a full market cycle of 4 to 5 years.
“We serve a rising variety of institutional and enterprise purchasers searching for compliant, dependable entry to Solana by delegated staking and customized validator infrastructure,” SOL Methods CEO Leah Wald instructed Cointelegraph. BitGo, an institutional custody platform that partnered with SOL Methods in April, can even be concerned.
Staking is the method of locking up cryptocurrencies to assist safe a blockchain community and earn rewards. Solana epochs final about two to 3 days, after which Solana (SOL) stakers obtain a certain quantity of the native coin.
“We presently function 5 validators with over 3.59 million SOL (CAD $888 million) ($647.2 million) in belongings beneath delegation and greater than 5,700 distinctive wallets staked, with simply 12% coming from our personal treasury, the remainder from third events,” Wald stated.
Nevertheless, staking has dangers. If a validator have been to misbehave, its staked tokens could possibly be slashed, leading to losses for traders. In line with Solana Compass, roughly 403 million SOL tokens are being staked at this writing for a complete of $73.5 billion.
SOL Methods posted a lack of $3.5 million for the second quarter of 2025, though its staking and validating income grew considerably. Different firms like DeFi Growth Corp. and Upexi have additionally pivoted to Solana treasuries because the asset has gained extra traction amongst conventional traders.
Associated: Canada’s Sol Methods information with SEC to checklist on the Nasdaq
Elevated curiosity in staking from institutional traders
ARK Make investments’s transfer signifies elevated curiosity from institutional traders, who might need to earn yield on crypto belongings together with the potential appreciation in value. Asset managers are additionally searching for to get publicity to Ether (ETH) staking.
Over the previous few months, a number of issuers of Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have submitted formal requests with the SEC searching for approval for income-generating options.
“We’re seeing a transparent surge in institutional curiosity in Solana publicity, not simply to the asset, however to structured, investable automobiles that present entry with regulatory readability,” Wald stated.
Because the U.S. regulatory panorama turns into extra outlined, household workplaces, hedge funds, and asset managers are actively searching for merchandise like ETFs, structured notes, and public equities (DATs and Solana expertise companies like ours) that provide clear Solana publicity.
ARK Make investments is well-known in crypto circles, making a plethora of investments with vital quantities of capital. Not too long ago, it scooped up shares in Circle’s preliminary public providing earlier than promoting the primary batch of shares for $52 million on June 17. It’s an lively participant in Bitcoin ETFs and has invested in crypto firms’ shares up to now.
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