The Solana End Game: A Deep Dive with Anatoly Yakovenko and Kyle Samani

In a riveting discussion at DAS NY 2025, Anatoly Yakovenko, co-founder of Solana, and Kyle Samani, managing partner at Multicoin Capital, shared their insights on the future of Solana and its potential to revolutionize global financial markets. The conversation, moderated by Jack Cubanc from Blockworks, delved into various aspects of Solana's ecosystem, from technical upgrades to market dynamics and the burgeoning world of decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN).

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Solana's Thesis: Decentralized NASDAQ and Beyond

The conversation kicked off with a reminder of Solana's original pitch as a "decentralized NASDAQ." Yakovenko emphasized that the best place to issue financial products and market services is on the "cheapest, fastest blockchain that's globally distributed." This approach, he argued, reduces costs for issuers and asset owners alike, ultimately benefiting users through lower fees and improved efficiency.

Samani expanded on this concept with his "internet capital markets" thesis. He highlighted how crypto, and specifically Solana, offers a "first principles refresh to capitalism and finance." This new paradigm allows for the mixing and matching of various financial instruments in novel and efficient ways, breaking down traditional silos between different markets and asset classes.

Bringing Assets On-Chain: The Challenge and Opportunity

A significant portion of the discussion focused on the challenges and opportunities of bringing regulated traditional finance (TradFi) assets on-chain. Samani pointed out two main drivers for on-chain issuance:

1. Access to a different group of investors
2. Higher yields through decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols

He cited Phantom, a popular Solana wallet, as an example of a company that could benefit from an on-chain IPO due to its crypto-native user base. Additionally, Samani highlighted the potential for long-term asset holders to earn higher yields by depositing their assets on-chain and utilizing DeFi protocols like Kamino or Drift.

Multiple Concurrent Leaders: Solana's Vision for Reduced Latency

One of the most intriguing concepts discussed was Solana's future vision of multiple concurrent leaders. Yakovenko explained that this feature would allow for faster information processing and fairer transaction inclusion across the globe. He stated:

"If you have multiple concurrent leaders, you have a block producer in New York, you have a block producer in Singapore and Tokyo. If there's some financial event that happens in Singapore, like a ship full of iPhones sinks or some reason, that information still has to travel to New York before it's traded on NYSE. So that's about 80 milliseconds of data that has to transmit. That transaction that reflects that event could go directly into the block producer in Singapore immediately in less than one millisecond."

This approach could potentially make Solana a better price discovery engine than traditional exchanges, while maintaining the benefits of being open-source and globally accessible.

Samani added an interesting perspective on latency, focusing on the importance of optimizing for takers rather than market makers. He argued that decentralization could lead to better latency guarantees for normal users, as nodes would be distributed worldwide, reducing the time it takes for individuals to express their opinions through transactions.

Firedancer: Solana's Performance Upgrade

The conversation then shifted to Firedancer, a new high-performance client for Solana developed by Jump Crypto. Yakovenko provided insights into the current state of Firedancer and its potential impact on the network:

"The efforts prove out that the protocol without any changes can actually scale just to whatever hardware you throw at it. So if you have a fast network with fast switches, fast network cards and fast computers, you can just soak up all that bandwidth and do a million TPS without any changes to the algorithms and the design of Solana."

He emphasized that achieving a million transactions per second (TPS) is now more a matter of hardware optimization than fundamental changes to Solana's design. Additionally, Yakovenko highlighted the importance of Firedancer as a second implementation, which significantly enhances the network's safety by reducing the probability of catastrophic bugs.

Solana ETFs: Potential and Challenges

The discussion then turned to the potential introduction of Solana ETFs. Samani expressed confidence that Solana ETFs would be approved in 2025, citing recent meetings with the SEC. He outlined several factors that could make Solana ETFs more attractive than their Ethereum counterparts:

1. A more appealing valuation multiple (30-50x vs. Ethereum's 300-1000x)
2. Better user experience across the Solana ecosystem
3. Deterministic staking and unstaking periods, which are more amenable to ETF structures

Samani also touched on the possibility of staking ETFs, suggesting that Solana's design makes it better positioned than Ethereum to accommodate such products due to its deterministic bonding and unbonding periods.

The Rise of Stablecoins and DeFi

Yakovenko identified stablecoins as one of the most disruptive innovations in the crypto space. He shared an anecdote from the Solana Mobile presale, where users self-selected to pay in USDC globally, highlighting the growing adoption of stablecoins for cross-border transactions.

Samani expanded on the importance of stablecoins, describing them as "probably the single largest arbitrage ever in human history." He argued that crypto rails, particularly Solana, would be the mechanism to provide billions of people with access to their preferred store of value – likely US dollars.

The conversation also touched on the growing DeFi ecosystem on Solana, with Samani highlighting lending protocols like Kamino and Drift, as well as innovative concepts like "drift vaults" that allow retail users to effectively lend money to market makers.

DePIN: The Next Frontier

Samani expressed excitement about the potential of Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePIN). He explained:

"The idea of DePIN is basically, there's a lot of problems in the world that require setting up a lot of infrastructure in many different places. So helium is super quick explainer. Wireless network, the idea is, hey, if there's bad cell coverage somewhere, you as a entrepreneur, local entrepreneur can set up a wireless hotspot and anyone walking around nearby can then pay you as the hotspot owner per byte of data for using your local hotspot."

He mentioned that Multicoin Capital has invested heavily in this sector, with investments ranging from $50 to $100 million across various DePIN projects.

Meme Coins: Challenge or Opportunity?

The conversation addressed the prevalence of meme coins on Solana, which contribute significantly to the network's real economic value (REV). Yakovenko took a pragmatic stance, comparing meme coins to loot boxes in mobile games and emphasizing the need for better tooling to eliminate manipulation and ensure fair launches.

Samani added an optimistic note, predicting that the format of meme coins would likely evolve over the next five years:

"I'm fairly confident that that will not be the dominant modality that meme coins exist in five years from now. There's a lot of people playing around with ideas to iterate on what I'm gonna call the format or the product or the asset. No one's cracked code yet, but there's enough brain power and enough creativity trying to figure out the evolution of what these assets should look like that I'm very optimistic that the majority of meme coins in five years will not look like the meme coins being launched today."

Solana's Five-Year Journey and Future Outlook

Reflecting on Solana's five-year journey since its genesis block, both Yakovenko and Samani expressed pride in the ecosystem's achievements and optimism for its future. Yakovenko admitted that the network's current state exceeded his initial expectations, especially given the challenging launch during the COVID-19 market crash.

Samani highlighted the consistent focus on trading throughout Solana's development, from DEXes to derivatives. He also expressed excitement about the potential for widespread asset tokenization, particularly as regulatory clarity emerges around stablecoins and market structure.

The Road Ahead: Tokenization and Real-World Assets

Looking to the future, both Yakovenko and Samani emphasized the importance of bringing real-world assets on-chain. Yakovenko stated:

"My goal has always been how do we get real world assets on chain? And the first step where we're able to do that was like support DePIN projects. So these projects generate real revenue based on usage of hardware that's external to any digital transfer or whatever. Those are like V zero real world assets that have real world cash flows. We need more of those."

He envisioned a future where companies with significant annual recurring revenue (ARR) could easily conduct compliant IPOs on Solana using standardized, open-source tooling at a very low cost.

Conclusion: Solana's Promising Future

As the conversation wrapped up, it became clear that Solana's journey over the past five years has been marked by both challenges and significant achievements. The network's focus on speed, efficiency, and innovative financial products positions it well for future growth and adoption.

With upcoming developments like multiple concurrent leaders, the potential introduction of Solana ETFs, and the continued evolution of the DeFi and DePIN ecosystems, Solana appears poised to play a pivotal role in the future of decentralized finance and global capital markets.

The insights shared by Yakovenko and Samani paint a picture of a blockchain ecosystem that is not only technically robust but also adaptable to the changing needs of users and markets. As regulatory clarity improves and more real-world assets find their way onto the blockchain, Solana's vision of becoming a truly decentralized, global financial infrastructure seems increasingly within reach.

Facts + Figures

• Solana aims to be the cheapest and fastest blockchain for issuing financial products and market services
• Kyle Samani's "internet capital markets" thesis envisions a first principles refresh of capitalism and finance
• Solana's future vision includes multiple concurrent leaders to reduce latency and improve fairness
• Firedancer, a new Solana client, has demonstrated the ability to process 1 million TPS without changes to Solana's core design
• Solana ETFs are expected to be approved in 2025, with a high probability according to Polymarket predictions
• Solana's staking yields (8-10%) are higher than Ethereum's (3-4%), potentially making Solana ETFs more attractive
• Solana's deterministic staking and unstaking periods (max 2 days) give it an advantage over Ethereum for ETF structures
• Stablecoins are identified as one of the most disruptive innovations in the crypto space
• Multicoin Capital has invested $50-100 million in Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePIN) projects
• Solana leads among layer 1 blockchains in Real Economic Value (REV), partly due to meme coin activity
• Solana celebrated its 5th anniversary since the genesis block in 2025
• The ecosystem aims to enable companies with $50 million ARR to conduct compliant IPOs using standardized, open-source tooling on Solana

Questions Answered

What is Solana's vision for reducing latency in blockchain transactions?

Solana's vision for reducing latency involves implementing multiple concurrent leaders. This approach would allow for faster information processing and fairer transaction inclusion across the globe. By having block producers in different locations like New York, Singapore, and Tokyo, transactions can be processed locally in less than one millisecond, potentially making Solana a better price discovery engine than traditional exchanges while maintaining the benefits of being open-source and globally accessible.

How does Firedancer improve Solana's performance?

Firedancer is a new high-performance client for Solana developed by Jump Crypto. It demonstrates that Solana's protocol can scale to process 1 million transactions per second (TPS) without changes to its core algorithms or design, simply by optimizing hardware and network infrastructure. Additionally, Firedancer serves as a second implementation of the Solana protocol, significantly enhancing the network's safety by reducing the probability of catastrophic bugs.

What advantages does Solana have over Ethereum for ETF structures?

Solana has several advantages over Ethereum for ETF structures. Firstly, Solana's staking yields (8-10%) are higher than Ethereum's (3-4%), potentially making Solana ETFs more attractive. More importantly, Solana's deterministic staking and unstaking periods (maximum 2 days) make it more amenable to ETF structures compared to Ethereum's non-deterministic system. This deterministic nature allows for easier management of ETF inflows and outflows, reducing risks associated with redemptions.

What is DePIN and why is it considered important for Solana's ecosystem?

DePIN stands for Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks. It refers to projects that leverage blockchain technology to build and maintain physical infrastructure in a decentralized manner. Examples include wireless networks, mapping services, and energy grids. DePIN is considered important for Solana's ecosystem because it represents a way to bring real-world assets and revenue streams on-chain, potentially driving adoption and providing tangible use cases for blockchain technology beyond purely digital assets.

How are meme coins viewed within the Solana ecosystem?

Meme coins are viewed with a mix of pragmatism and optimism within the Solana ecosystem. While they contribute significantly to Solana's real economic value (REV), there's recognition of the need for better tooling to eliminate manipulation and ensure fair launches. However, there's also optimism about the evolution of meme coins, with expectations that their format and utility will significantly change over the next five years, potentially becoming more sophisticated and valuable components of the ecosystem.

What is Solana's strategy for bringing real-world assets on-chain?

Solana's strategy for bringing real-world assets on-chain involves several approaches. One is supporting DePIN projects, which generate real revenue based on usage of physical hardware. Another is developing standardized, open-source tooling that would allow companies with significant annual recurring revenue (ARR) to conduct compliant IPOs on Solana at a very low cost. The goal is to create a seamless and cost-effective way for traditional businesses to tokenize their assets and access the benefits of blockchain technology.

How does Solana plan to compete with traditional financial markets?

Solana plans to compete with traditional financial markets by offering faster, cheaper, and more globally accessible financial services. This includes developing features like multiple concurrent leaders to reduce latency, supporting the creation of innovative financial products, and enabling the tokenization of real-world assets. By providing a platform that can handle high transaction volumes at low costs, Solana aims to become a more efficient alternative to traditional financial infrastructure, particularly for global, 24/7 trading of various asset classes.