The UAE: The New Wall Street of Digital Finance

In a bold move to reshape global financial infrastructure, two major players in the Solana ecosystem have announced a merger that aims to transform the United Arab Emirates into the Wall Street of digital finance. Rockaway X, a European crypto fund and infrastructure provider, is combining forces with Solmate, a NASDAQ-traded Solana treasury company, in a deal that could fundamentally shift where and how blockchain-based finance operates.

Summary

The announcement, made at Breakpoint 2024 in Dubai, reveals an ambitious plan to leverage the UAE's strategic geographic position, clear regulatory framework, and existing infrastructure to create a new global center for digital asset trading and tokenization. The merger combines Rockaway X's operational expertise across infrastructure, liquidity, and asset management with Solmate's $300 million treasury and public market presence.

Victor from Rockaway X outlined how the company has evolved from running Solana's first testnet validator—literally assembled by hand on a desk in Prague—to managing approximately $1 billion in staked assets across 50 blockchains. The firm has established a significant European presence with nodes in London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Prague, and Oslo, and is now extending operations to the UAE.

Marco Santori, representing the merged entity's vision, painted a picture of a financial future where the UAE serves as the critical middle ground between existing financial hubs in Europe, the Americas, and Asia. He pointed to a geographic gap in the current financial center landscape and argued that rather than incrementally improving existing systems like Wall Street, blockchain technology offers the opportunity to build something entirely new from the ground up.

The companies believe this initiative could eventually contribute three to five percent of the UAE's GDP—an ambitious target that underscores the scale of their vision for blockchain-based financial services.

Key Points:

Strategic Merger Creates Full-Stack Solana Infrastructure Company

The combination of Rockaway X and Solmate creates a vertically integrated company capable of serving nearly every aspect of Solana's institutional ecosystem. Rockaway X brings three core divisions to the table: infrastructure (validation and node operation), liquidity (DeFi lending and yield generation), and asset management (venture capital investments in early-stage projects).

Solmate contributes its NASDAQ listing under ticker SLMT, providing public market access and credibility, along with its substantial Solana treasury. The merger, announced the week prior to the presentation, is expected to close within 30 to 60 days. The combined entity will continue to focus on growing its SOL treasury while leveraging Rockaway X's operational capabilities to generate yield and expand ecosystem services.

New RPC Infrastructure: Zero Latency Execution

Rockaway X unveiled "Zela" (Zero Latency), a new remote procedure execution service that represents an evolution beyond traditional RPC offerings. Unlike standard RPC services that route transactions through fixed endpoints, Zela follows Solana's rotating leader schedule globally, positioning transaction execution as close to the current block producer as possible.

This architecture delivers significantly faster response times for program transactions, which is critical for latency-sensitive applications like trading and MEV strategies. The service positions the merged company to compete in the increasingly important battle for transaction execution quality on Solana.

DeFi Fund Performance and Vault Curation Expansion

Rockaway X's DeFi fund has demonstrated impressive returns with strong risk management, achieving 19% net returns in 2023 and tracking toward 15% net in 2024. The market-neutral private credit fund lends to DeFi protocols including Huma, Camino, Henri, Solstice, and Morpho, maintaining zero defaults since 2022—including through the FTX collapse.

The fund currently manages $150 million across 40 protocols, offering investors monthly liquidity and an 8x Sharpe ratio. Notably, the fund has operated as USD in, USD out—traditional fiat rails rather than stablecoin-based. Now, the company is expanding into on-chain vault curation, launching on Solana with Kamino, Exponent, and Midas in January. With only 12% of the roughly $8 billion in curated vault TVL currently on Solana, the team sees significant growth opportunity.

UAE as the Geographic Sweet Spot

The presentation highlighted a critical gap in global financial infrastructure. Currently, nearly 30% of Solana stake operates from Frankfurt, with matching engines in Tokyo, but virtually nothing in between. The UAE sits at a strategic crossroads between Northern Europe, the East Coast of the United States, and Asia, making it an ideal location for a new financial hub.

The team validated what they believe is the first Solana block in the UAE just weeks before the presentation. Currently validating approximately one block every four minutes, the goal is to dramatically increase this frequency to support comprehensive transaction landing services. The three-phase plan involves first accumulating stake, then attracting traders, hedge funds, market makers, and exchanges, and finally building out full tokenization infrastructure.

Tokenization and the Future of Finance

Marco Santori cited the SEC chairman's prediction that all financial markets will move on-chain within two years. While acknowledging this timeline as aggressive, he argued it's not unrealistic and represents a fundamental shift in how financial infrastructure will operate.

Rather than incremental improvements like reducing settlement from T+2 to T+0, the vision is to leapfrog existing systems entirely. This follows technology's historical pattern of disruption—not changing things from the inside, but starting fresh and building something superior. The UAE, with its clear regulations, existing talent pool, aligned government, and robust infrastructure including fiber optics and data centers, offers the ideal foundation for this rebuild.

Solana City Dubai Launch

To support ecosystem growth in the region, the companies have opened "Solana City" in Dubai, located at Alpha Beta in Al Quoz. The co-working space serves as a physical hub for Solana developers and businesses in the UAE, providing a meeting point for the growing community and a tangible representation of the commitment to building in the region.

Facts + Figures

• Rockaway X invested $50 million as anchor investor in Solmate's $300 million raise
• The company manages approximately $1 billion in staked assets across roughly 50 blockchains
• Double Zero contributor with nodes in London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Prague, and Oslo
• DeFi fund achieved 19% net returns in 2023, on track for 15% net in 2024
• Zero defaults in the lending fund since 2022, including during the FTX collapse
• Fund manages $150 million across 40 DeFi protocols
• Investors receive monthly liquidity with an 8x Sharpe ratio
• Only 12% of approximately $8 billion in curated vault TVL exists on Solana
• Vault curation launching on Solana in January with Kamino, Exponent, and Midas
• Solmate trades on NASDAQ under ticker SLMT
• Currently validating approximately one block every four minutes in the UAE
• Nearly 30% of Solana stake currently operates from Frankfurt
• Vision projects 3-5% of UAE GDP could come from digital finance operations
• Rockaway X led the seed round of Solana
• Portfolio includes investments in Double Zero, Kamino, Squads, Honorary, and Exponent
• Latest investment round announced: Colliding, with Hedgehog participation
• Merger expected to close within 30-60 days

Top quotes

"I think we can leapfrog it. I think we can rebuild it here from scratch. And that's what tech has always done, right? It's actually very rarely changed things from the inside. It started over and built anew and built fresher."

"We actually do believe we can build a brand new Wall Street and we can do it here. We can do it better, cheaper, faster. And we can make the UAE home for that. Internet capital markets."

"If you look at the map of financial centers in the world, look, there's nothing here. There's nothing here. I think that's a travesty and I think that we can do better."

"Right now, you've got almost 30% of stake up in Frankfurt. You've got matching engines in Tokyo and you've got nothing in between."

"We have the chairman of the SEC saying it's going to happen within the next two years that all financial markets are going to be moving on-chain."

"We were running the first testnet validator of Solana just, you know, manually, we put it, we bought hardware in Prague and put it together on a desk."

"We think we can end up with three to five percent of the UAE's GDP coming just from that kind of work."

Questions Answered

What is the Rockaway X and Solmate merger about?

The merger combines Rockaway X, a European crypto infrastructure and investment firm, with Solmate, a NASDAQ-traded company focused on building a Solana treasury. Rockaway X invested $50 million as an anchor investor in Solmate's $300 million raise, which sparked discussions that evolved into a full merger. The deal brings together Solmate's public market presence and treasury strategy with Rockaway X's operational expertise in validation, DeFi lending, and venture capital. The combined entity will focus on making the UAE a global center for digital finance while continuing to grow its Solana holdings.

Why is the UAE being positioned as a center for digital finance?

The UAE offers several unique advantages for building a new financial hub. Geographically, it sits between major financial centers in Europe, Asia, and North America, filling a gap in current infrastructure. The country has established clear cryptocurrency regulations, an aligned government supportive of blockchain development, and existing technical infrastructure including fiber optics and data centers. The team believes rather than trying to improve existing financial systems in established centers like New York, it's more effective to build fresh infrastructure in a location designed for digital-native finance from the ground up.

What is Zela and how does it differ from traditional RPC services?

Zela, short for Zero Latency, is a remote procedure execution service that goes beyond traditional RPC functionality. While standard RPCs route transactions through fixed endpoints, Zela dynamically follows Solana's rotating leader schedule globally. This means transaction execution happens as close as possible to whichever validator is currently producing blocks. The result is significantly faster response times, which is crucial for time-sensitive applications like trading and capturing MEV opportunities. The service represents the company's evolution from basic infrastructure to premium execution services.

How has Rockaway X's DeFi lending fund performed?

The market-neutral private credit fund has delivered strong risk-adjusted returns with remarkable consistency. It achieved 19% net returns in 2023 and is on track for 15% net in 2024. Perhaps more impressively, the fund has maintained zero defaults since 2022, including navigating the FTX collapse without losses. Currently managing $150 million across 40 DeFi protocols, the fund lends to projects like Huma, Kamino, Henri, Solstice, and Morpho. Investors benefit from monthly liquidity and an 8x Sharpe ratio, though the fund operates through traditional fiat rails rather than stablecoins.

What is vault curation and why is it expanding to Solana?

Vault curation involves managing DeFi vaults to optimize yield for depositors, similar to how asset managers allocate traditional investments. This service has grown to approximately $8 billion in total value locked across DeFi, but only 12% currently exists on Solana—presenting a significant growth opportunity. Firms like MEV Capital, H Capital, and Steakhouse have established this practice on EVM chains. Rockaway X is launching its Solana vault curation service in January 2025 in partnership with Kamino, Exponent, and Midas, aiming to bring more professional yield management to the ecosystem and drive TVL growth.

How will the merger help grow validator stake in the UAE?

The combined company follows a three-step strategy for building UAE infrastructure. First, accumulating stake through Solmate's treasury and attracting third-party delegations. With sufficient stake, they can validate more blocks (currently about one every four minutes) and offer reliable transaction landing services. This attracts the second phase: bringing traders, hedge funds, market makers, and exchanges to the region. Finally, with robust trading infrastructure in place, the UAE can become a comprehensive center for tokenization—the conversion of traditional financial assets to blockchain-based representations.

What is Rockaway X's history with Solana?

Rockaway X has been involved with Solana since its earliest days, running the first testnet validator by manually assembling hardware on a desk in Prague. The firm led Solana's seed funding round and has continued investing in the ecosystem through projects like Double Zero, Kamino, Squads, Honorary, and Exponent. Their infrastructure division has grown from that initial testnet node to managing approximately $1 billion in staked assets across roughly 50 blockchains, with Solana remaining their primary focus. This deep involvement gives the merged company significant operational expertise and ecosystem relationships.