Investment Firm Predicts Solana Will Surpass NYSE and NASDAQ

A bold new investment thesis from Multicoin Capital, a crypto-focused venture firm, suggests that Solana has the potential to outperform some of the most dominant names in traditional finance, including the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), NASDAQ, and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME).

The firm argues that Solana’s blockchain ecosystem, which has grown to a market cap of over $100 billion, is poised to redefine financial markets by capturing value across multiple layers of the global financial system. In a thesis titled The Solana Thesis: Internet Capital Markets, Multicoin Capital Co-Founder Kyle Samani explains how Solana’s unique design enables it to significantly reduce user fees while supporting an expansive financial ecosystem.

This efficiency, combined with the network’s ability to accommodate a wide range of financial protocols, allows Solana to function as more than just a decentralised stock exchange. Instead, the firm envisions Solana as a global financial platform capable of hosting everything from derivatives and lending to tokenized real estate and traditional equities.

How Solana’s Memecoin Communities Are Driving Growth

One of the key factors in Solana’s rise has been the explosive growth of its memecoincommunities. These internet-inspired tokens have brought a wave of activity to the network, drawing in both traders and developers who see Solana as the ideal blockchain for launching and trading new assets.

Memecoins have not only increased transaction volumes. They’ve also helped the network gain a reputation for fast and affordable transactions, which has made it attractive to both retail investors and institutional players.

According to crypto expert Kosta Kostadinov, among the best cryptos to buy now, Solana’s ecosystem has become a hotspot for emerging opportunities. The high-speed nature of Solana’s blockchain allows memecoins to be traded with minimal fees, making it an ideal environment for speculative markets that thrive on rapid movement.

Memecoins have also helped drive the adoption of Solana-based wallets and decentralised applications, further integrating the blockchain into everyday crypto use. As more users engage with the network, liquidity deepens, and the decentralised finance (DeFi) sector benefits from increased activity.

This viral adoption effect strengthens Solana’s position as the blockchain of choice for a new generation of traders, reinforcing the argument that it can eventually challenge traditional financial exchanges in terms of transaction volume and market efficiency. More importantly, the ongoing excitement around these tokens has sparked greater interest from developers building innovative financial products, further fuelling the network’s expansion.

The Technological Edge That Sets Solana Apart

Multicoin Capital has been an advocate for Solana since investing in its seed round in 2018, and it now sees the network as the fastest-growing developer ecosystem in crypto. Solana now rivals Ethereum in major on-chain metrics, including trading volumes, active addresses, and total transaction value processed.

The investment thesis highlights how Solana’s architecture allows for near-zero transaction fees while maintaining high network throughput. Unlike traditional stock exchanges, which rely on centralised infrastructure, Solana’s decentralised design enables it to generate revenue through a variety of financial protocols operating on its network.

Solana’s efficiency gets a boost from a clever innovation called conditional liquidity (CL), a concept first developed by the DeFi platform DFlow. CL empowers liquidity providers to refine trading conditions by selectively filtering out less desirable order flow.

This strategic approach, similar to tactics employed by established financial players like Robinhood and their market makers, enables Solana to offer users more competitive pricing while sustaining robust liquidity. These infrastructure enhancements position Solana to rival centralized exchanges, promising improved trade execution and lower transaction fees.

Another major breakthrough is Solana’s upcoming Multiple Concurrent Leaders (MCL) framework, which allows multiple nodes to produce blocks simultaneously. This innovation addresses a fundamental limitation of centralised stock exchanges, where latency can disadvantage traders who are physically distant from a market’s main server.

By distributing block production across the network, MCL reduces latency and ensures a more level playing field for traders worldwide. This decentralised price discovery mechanism is expected to outperform traditional centralised matching engines over time, giving Solana a structural advantage over legacy exchanges like NASDAQ and the NYSE.

The Growing Financial Ecosystem on Solana

Samani describes Solana’s role as much larger than that of a simple decentralised exchange. He envisions it as a global platform that can support an expansive range of financial activities. As blockchain adoption grows, more assets are expected to migrate onto decentralised and permissionless systems like Solana.

This shift extends beyond cryptocurrencies and includes tokenized assets such as fractionalised real estate, collectible investments like whiskey or luxury watches, and even traditional stocks that could eventually be traded on-chain. The blockchain’s flexibility makes it possible to support novel asset classes that do not currently exist in traditional markets.

Revenue generation on Solana is also evolving through the concept of maximum extractable value (MEV), which refers to the ability of validators to extract profits from transaction sequencing. As more capital markets migrate to on-chain platforms, MEV is expected to become one of the most important revenue streams for blockchain networks.

Multicoin Capital reports that Solana generated over $800 million in net revenue during the final quarter of 2024, a staggering rise from almost zero one year prior. This puts Solana on track for an annualised revenue of $3.2 billion, demonstrating the rapid expansion of financial activity within the ecosystem.

As trading volumes increase and new financial products launch on the network, these numbers are expected to grow further, solidifying Solana’s place as a leading force in blockchain-based finance.

Regulatory and Market Challenges

Despite its impressive growth, Solana still faces significant challenges that could impact its ability to overtake traditional financial institutions. Regulatory uncertainty remains one of the biggest obstacles, as governments worldwide continue to debate regulations for blockchain-based financial services. Any restrictive policies could limit Solana’s ability to operate in certain markets or hinder institutional adoption.

Network security is another critical factor, as maintaining a resilient infrastructure is essential to preventing hacks and ensuring user confidence. The volatility of the broader cryptocurrency market also presents risks, as fluctuations in Solana’s price can affect investment sentiment and network stability.

Multicoin Capital acknowledges these challenges but remains confident that Solana’s decentralised architecture and continuous innovation will allow it to navigate these hurdles. The firm argues that as blockchain technology becomes more integrated into global finance, the demand for scalable, low-cost solutions like Solana will continue to grow.

Traditional stock exchanges, which rely on outdated systems and centralised control, may struggle to keep pace with the level of innovation that decentralised networks can offer. Institutional players are already exploring blockchain-based settlement solutions, and as adoption increases, Solana’s efficient infrastructure could position it as the preferred network for global financial transactions.

Conclusion

The idea that Solana could surpass NYSE and NASDAQ may seem ambitious, but MulticoinCapital’s investment thesis presents a strong argument for why it is possible. Solana’s low-cost, high-speed transactions, combined with its rapidly growing ecosystem, provide it with a major competitive edge. The network has already attracted significant liquidity, driven by DeFi applications and thriving memecoin markets.

While regulatory and market risks remain, Solana’s ongoing innovation puts it in a strong position to challenge traditional financial exchanges. If its current trajectory continues, it may redefine the future of finance, pushing global markets toward a decentralised future.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.