Solana Could Soon Rule Wall Street’s Stablecoin Market: Bitwise CIO

Solana has drawn fresh praise from one corner of the crypto world this week, with a senior asset manager saying the chain could become Wall Street’s go-to network for stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets.

The comment comes as market participants weigh speed and settlement features alongside raw on-chain dollar totals.

Bitwise Calls Solana ‘The New Wall Street’

According to Bitwise’s chief investment officer, Matt Hougan, traditional finance is starting to take Solana seriously because of its transaction speed and finality, features that appeal to institutional traders who care about quick settlement.

Hougan made the remarks while speaking with Solana Labs’ Akshay Rajan on Oct. 2. He pointed to an improvement in settlement times from about 400 microseconds to roughly 150 microseconds as a practical example of why some investors are watching Solana closely.

That technical case is only part of the picture. Market size still favors other networks by a large margin. According to on-chain analytics cited in recent reports, stablecoin supplies on Solana stand at close to $14 billion, or roughly 4.5% of the on-chain stablecoin market.

By contrast, Ethereum holds about $173 billion, or nearly 60% of the market on its own — a share that stretches to 65% when major layer-two networks such as Arbitrum, Base and Polygon are counted. Those figures underline how much ground Solana would need to cover to displace Ethereum for most stablecoin issuance.

Ethereum Still Dominates Stablecoins

Voices from the EVM ecosystem have pushed back. AJ Warner, chief strategic officer at Offchain Labs, argued that while total value locked is only one metric, the EVM environment remains the obvious place to launch new stablecoins because of developer tools and existing integrations.

That view reflects a cautious stance from parts of traditional finance that prefer systems with long track records and broad tooling.

Bitwise’s own moves show the firm is betting both ways. The company already runs a Bitwise Physical Solana ETP with roughly $30 million in assets under management, a small sum compared with Bitcoin and Ether products but a concrete step toward giving investors exposure to SOL via institutional custody and familiar fund structures.

If Solana’s speed and efficiency can win over the same bankers who once doubted crypto altogether, Wall Street’s stablecoin crown may not rest with Ethereum for long.

The chain’s rise from an experimental network to a potential financial backbone shows how fast sentiment can shift when performance meets purpose.

Whether it’s through Bitwise’s upcoming ETF or broader institutional adoption, Solana now stands on the edge of something rare in crypto — a chance to reshape how the biggest players move money.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView