Solana is turning its sights toward Wall Street

By: Yueqi Yang

Translated by: Block unicorn

In the cryptocurrency world, Solana is the wild "younger brother" eager for recognition. Known for meme coins and its association with the crypto exchange FTX, this blockchain is nearing entry into mainstream finance.

According to Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart, who tracks asset manager applications, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is expected to approve an exchange-traded fund (ETF) holding Solana tokens around mid-October under President Donald Trump's more crypto-friendly administration.

This would make it the third crypto token—after Bitcoin and Ethereum—to be packaged into a stock-traded product. Crypto ETFs are booming, as are crypto-related stocks such as Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy). Currently, the total value of crypto-related securities traded on stock markets exceeds $400 billion.

An increasing number of public companies are raising funds to buy and hold Solana tokens. This is part of a surge in company shares focused primarily on holding cryptocurrencies. Two major supporters of Solana—Multicoin Capital and SkyBridge Capital—are considering investing in some upcoming Solana-related stocks, Multicoin partner Kyle Samani and SkyBridge founder Anthony Scaramucci said in separate interviews. This could push up the token’s price.

Solana has largely moved past its close ties to FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who was a major backer and shareholder of Solana. After the FTX scandal broke, users and developers fled Solana, but that has changed over the past two years. Solana’s token (ticker SOL) has surged 820% since August 2023, becoming the sixth-largest cryptocurrency with a circulating market cap of $99 billion, though down from its January peak.

Growth is partly due to the popularity of the Solana blockchain, launched in 2020 by Solana Labs founders Anatoly Yakovenko and Raj Gokal. It is seen as a faster and cheaper alternative to the established Ethereum blockchain. These features have made Solana the platform of choice for meme coins like $Trump and Fartcoin—highly popular but extremely volatile.

Solana is trying to shed its frivolous reputation as merely a playground for speculative meme coins. "Solana's strength and weakness is that it's very consumer-facing," said Anna Yuan, former stablecoin lead at the Solana Foundation and co-founder of stablecoin startup Perena. "The teams there are passionate about building consumer products."

The meme coin frenzy has cooled, and Solana’s token price has fallen nearly 40% from its January high. Blockchain supporters hope to restart growth by creating internet-based capital markets. The goal is to tokenize individual stocks, bonds, and stablecoins for trading on the Solana blockchain.

Solana’s pivot away from meme coins is especially important for its push into stablecoins, which are meant to maintain a fixed value—directly opposite to meme coins.

"Stablecoins are currently at the forefront, with a much more serious target audience than the meme coin crowd... I think this is a distinct niche," said Armani Ferrante, founder and CEO of crypto exchange Backpack and an early Solana developer.

At least two companies—Circle, issuer of the second-largest stablecoin, and payments firm Stripe—are developing stablecoin blockchains. These upcoming projects could compete with Solana and current leader Ethereum for stablecoin adoption.

Solana is also gaining support in Washington, promoting its efforts to build internet capital markets. It has quickly formed key partnerships with financial giants such as Visa, BlackRock, Fiserv, and R3, a traditional blockchain firm that builds systems for banks.

Just as bringing crypto assets into stock markets opened trading to new investor groups, turning stocks into crypto tokens makes it easier for crypto traders to bet on equities. This is already happening: crypto tokens representing exposure to stocks like Tesla, Nvidia, and Circle are growing in popularity among overseas crypto investors who lack easy access to U.S. stock markets. According to data tracked by crypto analytics platform RWA.xyz, the total value of tokenized stocks has reached $357 million.

In June, Backed Finance—one of the fastest-growing tokenized stock providers—launched xStocks on exchanges including Kraken for non-U.S. users. RWA.xyz data shows Solana quickly became the preferred blockchain for trading these stocks. Kraken, which invested in Backed Finance, plans to roll out tokenized stocks to more markets—including Europe—in the coming weeks, said Mark Greenberg, head of Kraken’s consumer business. This could bring more trading volume to Solana.

Solana is also securing support from banks. This year, the Solana Foundation made an undisclosed investment in R3, a blockchain company backed by Bank of America and other banks, which reportedly is exploring various options including a sale in 2024. Lily Liu, president of the Solana Foundation, joined R3’s board of directors.

Meanwhile, Solana is expanding its influence in Washington. The Solana Policy Institute was launched this year and hired veteran crypto lobbyist Kristin Smith, former CEO of the Blockchain Association. She is meeting with lawmakers and urging the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to provide guidance enabling companies to move stocks, bonds, and other assets onto blockchains more easily.

Solana has also donated to the Senate Leadership Fund, Congressional Leadership Fund, Senate Majority PAC, House Majority PAC, Sentry Action Fund, and pro-crypto group Fairshake ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

Smith said Solana’s meme coin reputation hasn’t come up in her Washington discussions. "Our conversations with many members of Congress start at the most basic level... They don't understand that Solana isn't just a company, but a community, an ecosystem," she said.