The key question this cycle is, what attracts institutional adoption?

Unlike retail investors, who focus on quick entries and exits, institutions operate on much longer time horizons. Naturally, the more institutional capital an asset attracts, the stronger its staying power tends to be.

That brings us to the central debate: Do institutions adopt assets for long-term ROI, staking rewards, or pure conviction in the asset itself? In that context, Upexi’s recent Solana [SOL] deal may offer a compelling answer.

Source: Blockworks

Upexi has announced a $36 million private deal with Hivemind Capital.

The goal? Expand its Solana treasury. Under the agreement, Upexi will receive locked SOL in exchange for a convertible note carrying 1% interest. Once completed, the company is expected to hold over 2.4 million SOL.

Technically, that’s roughly a 20% jump in total holdings, making Upexi (UPXI) the second-largest Solana DAT. Moreover, with an mNAV of 1.17x, UPXI trades at the highest premium among the top three SOL DATs.

In simple terms, the stock is 17% above its asset value, showing that investors are “willing” to pay a premium for UPXI, which brings us back to the bigger question: What’s exactly driving this institutional adoption?

Fundamentals take the lead in Solana’s DAT growth

A high mNAV is a clear sign of investor confidence.

Looking at Upexi’s asset profile, in Q4 2025, the company added about 5% more SOL, bringing its total to 2.106 million. Statistically, this shows that Solana is at the “core” of Upexi’s assets, directly shaping its mNAV.

In other words, investors are willing to pay a premium because they have strong conviction in the underlying asset (in this case, Solana), and when you look at its key on-chain performance, that confidence is well justified.

According to Santiment, Solana’s developer activity jumped 73%. To put that in context, even major top caps like Ethereum [ETH] and Binance Coin [BNB] are trailing behind, highlighting SOL’s strong ecosystem growth.

Why does this matter? High developer activity is a signal that the network is scaling its fundamentals. Notably, that’s translating into real interest: CoinShares reports $33 million in flows, putting Solana ahead of its peers.

Taken together, Upexi’s treasury, SOL’s developer activity, and rising asset flows, Solana’s ecosystem is clearly being driven by real fundamentals, reinforcing why SOL continues to attract institutional interest.

The outcome? Solana is leading on the charts. It is up 16% so far in 2026.

Final Thoughts

• A $36 million deal with Hivemind expands Upexi’s Solana treasury, making SOL the core of its assets.
• Solana’s developer activity jumped 73%, and CoinShares reports $33 million in flows, fueling real network growth and supporting a 16% rally in 2026.

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Author: Ritika Gupta