R.F. Lafferty leads $11 million DeFi Development public offering

R.F. Lafferty served as sole book-running manager for DeFi Development Corp.’s roughly $11 million public offering of CHAD, a SOL-backed digital credit instrument. The deal adds a new crypto-linked financing structure to public markets and included participation from Thomas Lee and other investors.

Why it matters: - The offering introduces what the release calls the first SOL-backed Digital Credit instrument in the public markets. - The deal shows how listed companies are experimenting with blockchain-linked financing structures. - The structure could broaden capital-raising options for public companies seeking nontraditional funding.

What happened: - R.F. Lafferty & Co. acted as sole book-running manager for DeFi Development Corp.’s approximately $11 million underwritten public offering of Variable Rate Series C Perpetual Preferred Stock, or CHAD. - The offering priced at $8.00 per share and sold 1,375,000 shares. - DeFi Development Corp. trades on Nasdaq under the ticker DFDV. - The transaction included participation from Thomas Lee, co-founder and head of research at Fundstrat Global Advisors and chairman of the board of directors of BitMine, along with other investors.

The details: - CHAD is backed by Solana, or SOL, a high-performance blockchain platform. - The offering generated about $11 million in gross proceeds before underwriting discounts, commissions and offering expenses. - CHAD has a stated amount of $10.00 per share. - CHAD carries an initial annual dividend rate of 13.0%. - Based on the $8.00 offering price, the initial effective yield is about 16.25%. - CHAD is listed on The Nasdaq Capital Market under the ticker CHAD. - R.F. Lafferty was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in New York. - The firm has been family owned and operated since 1970. - R.F. Lafferty’s businesses include retail brokerage, wealth management, institutional sales and trading, market making, independent research and investment banking.

Between the lines: - The deal signals continued investor interest in products that connect traditional equity markets with digital assets. - R.F. Lafferty is positioning itself around more complex and differentiated capital markets transactions. - The use of SOL as backing gives the security a crypto-native angle that may appeal to investors looking for yield and digital-asset exposure.

What's next: - CHAD will trade on The Nasdaq Capital Market under its ticker symbol. - DeFi Development Corp. and R.F. Lafferty are likely to use the transaction as a reference point for future digital-asset-linked offerings. - Market reaction will show whether SOL-backed public instruments can attract broader adoption beyond this first deal.

The bottom line: - R.F. Lafferty helped bring a first-of-its-kind SOL-backed public financing to market, giving DeFi Development Corp. a new kind of capital and adding another experiment to the digital-asset capital markets playbook.