Solana co-founders "Major shift to decentralized finance…expanding real-world use and building revenue models are key" [Breakpoint 2025]

Solana (SOL) ecosystem co-founders emphasized that, amid changes in the global financial environment, expanding blockchain's real-world use and establishing sustainable revenue structures are the core of future network development.

On the 11th (local time) at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi during 'Breakpoint 2025', Raj Gokal, Solana co-founder and chief operating officer (COO), and Anatoly Yakovenko, Solana co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO), focused on discussing the ecosystem's technical evolution and market expansion strategies.

Yakovenko said, "Solana has moved past the period when it was perceived as an early 'decentralized finance (DeFi) chain' or a 'meme chain' and has now established itself as a general-purpose platform capable of handling large-scale transactions." He added, "In the past, specific subcommunities were central, but now various use cases have combined and the whole network has gained a collective momentum," and "advances in performance, scalability, and user experience have driven ecosystem expansion."

Gokal emphasized that the core value of decentralization is "to grant real economic empowerment to people who are marginalized by existing systems." He said, "The current financial structure does not provide sufficient opportunities for younger generations," and explained, "An ownership-based economic system created by blockchain makes a new social contract possible." He added, "Users should be able to share in the network's economic outcomes beyond mere participation."

Both co-founders agreed that expanding real-world use will be the next-generation growth engine. Yakovenko said, "The technical achievements built so far must now be connected to real economic activity," and "services that people can intuitively enjoy, such as games, memes, and revenue-generating applications, are the starting point for market expansion." Gokal also said, "People's first encounter with blockchain begins with curiosity," and evaluated, "Products that combine fun and practical utility create long-term growth."

Discussion about building revenue models continued. Gokal said, "On-chain businesses must grow for the entire ecosystem to be sustainable. The most important metric is how much real economic activity moves on-chain." He projected, "If only 10% of global financial markets become on-chain, the industry's structure will be completely different." Yakovenko also emphasized, "If decentralized networks can generate stable revenue, they will be competitive with traditional finance."

At the end of the conversation, the two co-founders predicted, "The next 10 years will see the pace of global finance becoming on-chain accelerate exponentially." In particular, Gokal said, "The speed at which mature countries and global banks adopt on-chain systems is faster than expected," and mentioned, "There is a possibility that Solana could become part of global financial infrastructure." Yakovenko also said, "This is only the beginning of the ecosystem's transition," and "I look forward most to the next stage that the whole ecosystem will create together."