Solana's Speed and Stakes Spark Wall Street's New Crypto Obsession

Solana’s native token, SOL, is positioned for a potential "epic end-of-year run," according to Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan, who has highlighted converging factors such as anticipated spot Solana ETF launches, treasury inflows, and institutional buying behavior that previously fueled Bitcoin and Ethereum rallies. The price of SOL has surged 24% in the past month, reflecting mounting optimism as seven major asset managers—including Bitwise, Grayscale, Fidelity, and VanEck—have filed to launch spot Solana ETPs. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is expected to rule on these applications by October 10. If approved, these products could facilitate broader retail and institutional participation in the Solana ecosystem, similar to the way traditional stock investments operate.

A significant development in the institutional adoption of Solana has come from Forward Industries, a publicly traded microcap firm that announced it has raised $1.65 billion in funding from key crypto investors such as Galaxy Digital, Jump Crypto, and Multicoin Capital. The firm’s strategy involves purchasing large quantities of SOL, staking it, and generating yield, effectively transforming Solana into a revenue-generating asset on a public balance sheet. Kyle Samani, co-founder of Multicoin and a long-standing advocate of Solana, is at the helm of the project. Bitwise likened Samani to figures such as Michael Saylor of Bitcoin or Tom Lee of Ethereum, emphasizing his ability to turn technical narratives into mainstream financial stories.

Solana’s appeal lies in its high-performance infrastructure. Unlike Ethereum, which relies on multiple layers to scale, Solana processes all transactions on a single chain. An upcoming upgrade is expected to reduce transaction finality time from 12 seconds to just 150 milliseconds, while maintaining fees under one cent per transaction. These improvements position Solana as a viable alternative for applications requiring speed and low costs, such as tokenized assets and stablecoins. However, critics note that Solana’s structure is more centralized than other blockchains, potentially increasing vulnerability to network failures.

Despite these concerns, Solana’s ecosystem has shown robust growth. The blockchain’s total value locked (TVL) has risen to an all-time high of $12.27 billion, up over 57% from its June lows. Key decentralized applications like Raydium, Jupiter DEX, Jito liquid staking, and Sanctum protocol have driven this increase, with individual TVL growth rates ranging between 18% and 32%. Moreover, Solana-based memecoins have seen a 70% surge in market capitalization over the past three months, from $7.3 billion to $12.4 billion. This activity has been accompanied by a 73% increase in decentralized exchange (DEX) volume related to memecoins over the last 24 hours, reaching $817.3 million.

Technically, Solana’s price performance also suggests potential for further gains. The token has followed a V-shaped recovery pattern on the weekly chart, with the price currently trading near a key supply-demand zone between $200 and $240. Breaking through this zone could lead to a move toward the neckline at $252 and, subsequently, the all-time high of $295. Analysts like Jussy and Kepin have highlighted $270, $290–$300, and even $350 as potential price targets if institutional adoption and ETF-related momentum continue. Bitwise’s Hougan has also noted that Solana’s relatively small market cap—$116 billion compared to Bitcoin’s $2.2 trillion—means even modest institutional inflows can create substantial price movements.

Bitwise’s projections are underpinned by the broader institutional momentum building around Solana. With key metrics like TVL, memecoin activity, and DEX volume all trending upward, the ecosystem appears well-positioned to benefit from the next wave of crypto adoption. While the potential for an "epic end-of-year run" remains speculative, the alignment of favorable market conditions—including potential ETF approvals and institutional backing—suggests Solana is a focal point in the evolving crypto landscape.