DeFi Development authorizes CHAD buybacks, but not yet
DeFi Development's board authorized buybacks of every CHAD share, including future issues, but will not buy until the preferred first reaches its $10 par.
DeFi Development has authorized a buyback of its CHAD preferred stock and said it does not plan to use it. On October 6, 2026 the board of DeFi Development Corp. (Nasdaq: DFDV) cleared repurchases of the Variable Rate Series C Perpetual Preferred Stock, including shares not yet issued. The authorization adds a discretionary tool around the $10 stated amount, not yet established in the market.
DeFi Development will not buy before CHAD first reaches par, and then only below $10 if the discount looks attractive. The September 8, 2026 Form 8-K already lets the board reset the dividend, an intention it may drop, to aim the price at $9.95 to $11. A buyback barred until par, beside a coupon the board can change, is discretion, not a standing defense of the preferred.
What the board authorized
The October 6 GlobeNewswire release says the authority covers up to all CHAD shares outstanding from time to time, including future issues. It is not capped at today's count, earlier purchases do not exhaust it, there is no end date, and the company need not buy any shares. Purchases may be open-market or private.
The September 8 filing records the sale that created the stock: 1,375,000 shares at $8.00 through R.F. Lafferty & Co., settled that day, plus a 30-day option on 206,250 shares. Net proceeds were about $10.3 million, for purposes including purchases of Solana (SOL). CHAD is non-convertible. The stated amount is $10, and the initial dividend is 13.00% a year, $1.30 a share at the current rate, paid in cash only if declared. The first payment date was October 1, 2026; the company said on October 5 that it had paid. The regular rate cannot be cut by more than 50 basis points, an unpaid dividend can compound up to 20% a year, and at closing the company deposited $1.30 a share in a separate account.
The other tools around $10
On September 11, 2026 DeFi Development signed a sales agreement with R.F. Lafferty for an at-the-market (ATM) sale of up to 30 million CHAD shares, after lifting the authorized count from 2,220,000 to 32,200,000. Thirty million shares at the $10 stated amount is $300 million of par, the label the company uses. The filing caps shares, not dollars. Listed CHAD may also be redeemed at $11 or more, plus unpaid dividends. Holders can force a repurchase only after a fundamental change.
"Our first objective is simple: get CHAD to par. We are not announcing that we intend to buy CHAD today. We are putting the infrastructure in place so that, once CHAD has established itself at par, we have another tool available if it subsequently trades below par."
Joseph Onorati, chief executive of DeFi Development Corp., said that on October 6, and called CHAD "a long-term funding platform, not a one-time issuance." Cash claims that look automatic are often conditional, as with Circle's terms on a European USDC redemption. This coupon is declared or not. A project can also shut when costs exceed revenue, which is what Blast did on Ethereum. The dividend here is a cost against SOL's price and yield.
The treasury behind the dividend
On October 5, DeFi Development said it had added about 26,203 SOL since September 28, to about 2,564,212 SOL and SOL equivalents, valued by the company at $302 million, about 11% above the August 12 update. Preliminary September 30 figures, still subject to the close, showed double-digit growth in SOL per share (SPS) and more than a doubling of net asset value (NAV) per share versus August 12. Staking and validator rewards are supposed to support the preferred, and the company warned they may fall short.
The name changed from Janover Inc. to DeFi Development Corp. on April 17, 2025, and the common ticker became DFDV, the August 31, 2026 prospectus supplement says. On March 31, 2026 the board approved winding down legacy Janover Capital Markets and Janover Insurance. FinCEN has withdrawn the unhosted-wallet rule and the 2023 mixer plan, and Summer Mersinger has stepped down at the Blockchain Association. Markets Insider showed the common at $4.98, down 8.96%, on October 6. That is a vendor print, not an official close, and a CHAD last sale that day was not verified here.
CHAD has to trade at or around $10 before this authority is eligible. The ATM is how more preferred could be issued, and the repurchase program is how a later discount could be bought. Neither obliges DeFi Development to defend par.
This article is informational analysis only and is not financial, investment, or trading advice. Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile and can lose substantial value rapidly. Past performance and historical patterns do not guarantee future results. Do your own research and consult a regulated financial adviser before making any investment decision.
Reporting by Karthik Subramanian. Filed 7 October 2026, 17:25 GMT.
Digital Assets Correspondent
Karthik Subramanian is a founder, writer, and technology consultant with nine years in the crypto ecosystem.
