In a surprising move outside its core business, Asian fertility services provider NewGen Group Limited (NASDAQ: NIVF) is stepping deeper into the world of crypto, having announced a $30 million stake in Solana (SOL), a fast-growing blockchain known for its low fees and high-speed transactions.
This investment follows its earlier $1 million Bitcoin purchase in December 2024, marking a major shift for the Asia-based company.
According to the company, these new purchases were funded with the help of two existing credit lines, $26 million from ATW and $100 million from White Lion.
“This investment represents a natural evolution of our digital asset strategy,” said CEO Siu Wing Fung Alfred, adding that the move shows growing trust in crypto as a real asset class. He believes it will “create value for shareholders” and help NewGen grow in a new area. To manage this expansion, NewGen plans to set up a separate company unit focused only on blockchain projects and staking, allowing them to make faster decisions and adjust quickly to the changing crypto market.
Why Solana?
Solana has established its name due to its speedy and affordable transactions, hence being among the top blockchains for decentralized apps (dApps) and DeFi tools. Its popularity has also been attractive to several public firms.
For instance, Upexi, a consumer products company, has acquired 679,677 SOL, which is valued at approximately $121.2 million based on the current price of $178.26 per SOL. At the same time, Real estate fintech Janover has recently acquired 80,567 SOL for $10.5 million, bringing its total SOL holdings to 163,651.7 which is worth roughly about $21.2 million.
Meanwhile, Canada-based SOL Strategies Inc. has filed for a $1 billion prospectus to fund Solana-related projects, showing how quickly the ecosystem is gaining serious backers. However, Despite the positive attention, the Sol market hasn’t exactly been great. It has been down 19% over the past 11 days, and currently trading at $152.59, with a market cap of $79.7 billion.
This dip came shortly after a large holder transferred 2.8 million SOL (worth $441M) to a Binance cold wallet, a move that raised concern of a possible sell pressure. Still, analysts noted the tokens were not sent directly to the exchange, meaning no immediate dump has occurred.
NewGen’s unexpected push into Solana staking shows the growing acceptance of crypto assets by traditional firms. As blockchain technology finds new use cases, moves like these may soon become the norm rather than the surprise.
