DeFi Development Corp. closed an approximately $11 million offering of Variable Rate Series C Perpetual Preferred Stock on Sept. 8, with substantially all net proceeds intended for additional SOL purchases. The Nasdaq-listed shares trade under CHAD and are listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market. The company describes CHAD as the first SOL-backed Digital Credit instrument, a characterization it makes itself. CHAD was sold for $8 per share against a $10 stated amount, with an initial annual dividend rate of 13% and an initial effective yield of about 16.25% at the offering price. Dividends accumulate daily but are payable only if declared by the board, while the rate can change under the security's terms. The financing is designed to avoid increasing the common-share count, although preferred dividends, SOL's market performance and execution remain important to returns. R.F. Lafferty served as sole book-running manager, and the investor group included Thomas Lee, Fundstrat's co-founder and head of research and BitMine's chairman. DeFi Development says its validator and onchain treasury operations can generate native staking yield, which it argues distinguishes CHAD from instruments backed by non-yielding assets. The company intends to manage CHAD's dividend rate with the goal of supporting trading near the $10 stated amount, but that is not a guaranteed market outcome. The offering extends its SOL treasury strategy, following a previously covered purchase of 172,670 SOL that took reported holdings above $100 million at the time. DeFi Development plans to issue a separate update on SOL holdings and SOL per share after deploying the proceeds.