Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

Across Protocol’s Risk Labs-operated relayer lost less than $4 million after an attacker fabricated $41.7 million in Solana deposit events, according to a post-incident report released by the cross-chain protocol.

Summary

1,627 fake deposits worth $41.7 million targeted 18 chains during the Solana attack. Risk Labs’ relayer paid $4.5 million across 581 fraudulent requests before suspending service. Around $500,000 in attacker funds remained trapped, reducing the net loss below $4 million. Across restored Solana transfers through CCTP, while user funds and the ACX buyback remained unaffected. Across attacker forged 1,627 Solana deposits The attack occurred between 05:07 and 06:14 UTC on July 17, according to the Across Protocol post-mortem. The attacker used 1,627 single-use Solana wallets to create the same number of fake deposit events.

Those deposits carried a combined face value of approximately $41.7 million and requested payments across 18 destination chains. Across reported that the funds were directed toward one recipient address on an Ethereum Virtual Machine-compatible network.

Risk Labs’ relayer filled 581 requests before Across stopped Solana operations. Those payments represented about 35.7% of the fraudulent requests but only 10.8% of their stated value.

The relayer advanced approximately $4.5 million of its own capital. Across invalidated the remaining 1,046 requests, preventing about $37 million in additional payouts.

Approximately $500,000 belonging to the attacker remained trapped within the protocol. Across deducted that amount from the gross payout to place its net loss below $4 million.

Why Across users avoided the relayer loss Across attributed the breach to a flaw in Risk Labs’ off-chain event-reading software rather than a vulnerability in its smart contracts. The protocol also reported that the attacker did not compromise the Solana network.

Across uses relayers that advance their own assets to complete cross-chain transfers before claiming repayment. That structure left Risk Labs’ relayer responsible for the loss instead of users who had submitted legitimate transactions.

All valid transfers were completed or fully refunded on July 17, according to Across. The protocol’s website shows that it has processed more than $34 billion in transfers without reporting a loss of user funds.

The incident differed from the Lien Finance exploit reported by crypto.news on July 24. SlowMist found that Lien’s attacker exploited a smart contract validation flaw to mint unsupported bond tokens and withdraw approximately 542,144.63 USDC.

crypto.news also reported that a wallet linked to the $285 million Drift Protocol exploit moved 23,095.1 ETH, worth about $44.4 million, through Tornado Cash on July 23 and July 24. Together, the incidents involved separate attack methods: off-chain software failure at Across, faulty contract logic at Lien, and post-exploit laundering tied to Drift.

What the CCTP shift means for US users Across restored Solana service in approximately 12 hours by routing transfers through Circle’s Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol. The protocol reported that its engineers deployed the root-cause fix about five hours after the attack.

The change has a direct U.S. connection because Circle issues USDC and operates CCTP. Circle states that CCTP burns native USDC on the source network and mints the same amount on the destination network without using traditional bridge liquidity pools or third-party fillers.

For U.S. users moving USDC to or from Solana, the fallback allowed transfers to resume without relying on the affected Risk Labs event reader. The Across breach did not involve USDC’s reserves or Circle’s minting contracts, according to the protocol’s findings.

The shift also comes after the United States established its first federal payment-stablecoin framework through the GENIUS Act. The law requires permitted issuers to maintain qualifying reserves and publish regular disclosures, according to a White House fact sheet. Those rules govern stablecoin issuers rather than the separate relayer software that caused the Across loss.

ACX buyback remains unchanged ACX traded near $0.041 after the post-mortem, with a market capitalization of about $29 million, according to CoinGecko. The token remained more than 97% below its all-time high.

Across stated that the loss would not affect its planned ACX token buyback. However, the protocol did not disclose whether Risk Labs would change its relayer funding, monitoring systems or operating limits.

Solana order flow remains routed through CCTP. Across has not provided a timeline for returning to its earlier routing system or announced the recovery of any additional funds.

Arival Bank announced the launch of stablecoin payment and treasury capabilities on July 3, 2026, with services expected to go live by mid-July. The offering supports USDC for all eligible clients and USDT for non-US entities, with conversion fees starting at just 0.05% for businesses moving into USD-denominated stablecoins.

What Arival is actually building Arival Bank operates as a recognized International Financial Entity under Puerto Rico’s regulatory framework, with full BSA/AML compliance, KYC/KYB protocols, and transaction monitoring systems.

Advertisement

The platform supports transactions across four blockchain networks: Base, Polygon, Solana, and Ethereum. The target market is global SMEs, startups, and digital-native businesses that need treasury management and cross-border payment tools.

Why Latin America is the real story here Arival’s announcement specifically calls out demand from international clients, with Latin America as a key focus. A USDC transfer on Solana settles in seconds, not days. At 0.05% conversion fees, Arival is undercutting what most traditional FX services charge by a wide margin.

The bank’s approach builds on its existing partnership with Circle Alliance, the program Circle runs to expand USDC adoption through financial institutions. By integrating stablecoin capabilities with existing USD and multi-currency accounts, Arival is creating something that looks less like a crypto product and more like an upgraded version of the banking tools businesses already use.

The competitive landscape The fee structure deserves attention. At 0.05% for stablecoin conversions, for a business processing $1 million in monthly cross-border payments, that’s $500 in conversion fees versus potentially thousands through traditional banking channels.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

Morgan Stanley has gained approval to list and trade its Ethereum and Solana ETFs on NYSE Arca as the issuer submitted 8-A and other filings with the US SEC. The Wall Street giant could soon launch its spot Ethereum and Solana ETFs.

Morgan Stanley Ethereum ETF Gains Approval According to the latest SEC filing, Morgan Stanley has gained approval to list shares of its spot Ethereum ETF from NYSE Arca. The ETF will list and trade on NYSE Arca under the ticker symbol MSSE.

Morgan Stanley has also filed 424B3, with no details on the fee waiver. The filing has become auto-effective pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Exchange Act, pending CERT filing for details on the trading date.

As CoinGape earlier reported, Morgan Stanley updated delegated sponsor, Coinbase Prime, Coinbase custodial and trade finance agreements. The latest amendment indicates the Morgan Stanley Ethereum ETF could become effective soon.

The spot Ethereum ETF will levy a sponsor fee of 0.14%. Also, it plans to stake 50-80% of holdings via providers such as Figment, Galaxy Blockchain, and Coinbase Canada. Notably, staking services providers and custodians are to receive only 5% of the staking rewards.

Morgan Stanley Investment Management, the delegated sponsor, said it will not receive or retain the remaining staking rewards, resulting in higher earnings for investors.

Moreover, The Bank of New York Mellon and Coinbase Custody will serve as custodians for the Morgan Stanley Ethereum ETF.

NYSE Arca Approves Wall Street Giant’s Solana ETF Listing Morgan Stanley also filed 8-A and 424B3 with the US SEC for its spot Solana ETF. NYSE Arca has also approved Morgan Stanley Solana ETF to list and trade under the ticker MSOL.

Notably, the approval comes as $10 trillion Morgan Stanley’s brokerage firm E*TRADE completed the rollout of spot Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana trading. Clients can buy, sell, and hold crypto in a linked Zerohash account.

Morgan Stanley Solana ETF will have a 0.14% management fee. Also, the issuer plans to stake up to 100% of SOL holdings through Figment, Galaxy Blockchain, and Coinbase Canada.

The staking rewards distribution mechanism for staking service providers, custodians, and investors is the same as in the Morgan Stanley Ethereum ETF. Cash custodians, crypto custodians, administrator, transfer agent, and marketing agent are similar to those of its Morgan Stanley Bitcoin ETF.

The MSBT holds over $391 million in total assets, with BTC holdings worth over $396 million. MSBT saw $5 million in inflows in the latest session, while spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $255.18 million in outflows.

While Morgan Stanley plans to capture passive yields internally for its ETF, retail investors looking for direct control over their assets can explore the best crypto staking platforms to earn competitive APYs on their Ethereum and Solana holdings.

@Circle has minted another $250 million $USDC on the @Solana blockchain, marking its fourth major issuance event within a 48-hour window. The move pushed the total circulating supply of USDC to a record $72.01 billion, underscoring relentless institutional demand for on-chain dollar liquidity.

Rapid Minting Reflects Rising On-Chain Demand The speed of the minting cycle is notable. Four large issuances in under two days signals that Circle is responding in near real-time to demand from market makers, trading venues, and DeFi protocols operating on Solana. Traders use USDC as collateral, as a settlement asset, and as a quick way to move between volatile positions without leaving the chain. When more USDC is minted onto Solana, it usually points to demand for on-chain dollar liquidity, which can come from market makers, DeFi protocols, retail traders, or institutions routing activity through Solana-based venues.

Large stablecoin mints typically provide fresh liquidity that can be deployed across decentralized exchanges, lending protocols, automated market makers, and yield-generating applications. As newly minted USDC enters circulation, DeFi platforms can absorb the additional capital to facilitate larger trading volumes and improve market efficiency.

USDC Cements Its Role as a Core Settlement Layer The pace of issuance sits within a broader trend of USDC dominance in 2026. Adjusted stablecoin transaction volume hit a record $1.79 trillion in June 2026, with Circle's USDC capturing 67% of activity at $1.21 trillion. That momentum has been driven in part by regulatory clarity in the United States and growing institutional use of USDC for payments and settlement.

USDC supply surged 220% since late 2023 to approximately $78 billion, driven by institutional B2B settlement, payroll infrastructure, and programmatic payment rails built by Visa and Stripe. The repeated minting cycles on Solana reflect that growth and reinforce the stablecoin's position as a primary collateral layer for on-chain finance.

Blockchain analysts note that gross issuance does not represent the network's live circulating supply, since USDC can later be redeemed, burned, or bridged to other blockchains. Even so, the frequency and scale of Circle's recent mints point to sustained, real demand rather than a one-off capital event.

Sources:
Crypto Briefing: Circle's USDC drives record stablecoin transaction volume in June 2026
CoinTrust: Circle Mints $250M USDC on Solana as 2026 Supply Nears $65B
CoinMarketCap Academy: $315B Stablecoin Supply Hits Record as USDC Gains

Looking at Solana’s key stats, the undervaluation narrative starts to gain more weight.

On the RWA front, Solana’s latest Q2 report showed $5.8 billion in Tokenized Asset Volume, up 114% QoQ and marking its sixth quarterly ATH.

The key takeaway?

Tokenized Equities alone accounted for 84% of total volume, making Solana a major hub for institutional RWA activity. But the momentum doesn’t stop there.

Source: X Digging deeper, Solana currently dominates tokenized stock trading, accounting for 96% of total volume, with xStocks driving over 80% of the activity. In this context, the latest xStocks expansion adds another layer to this growth story, moving beyond U.S. stocks to bring other global equities on-chain.

This broader access could further strengthen Solana’s position in the tokenized asset market. 

Source: X In short, Solana’s [SOL] $5.8 billion Q2 RWA volume could be just the start of a bigger trend.

And it looks like investors are already positioning for this growth.

According to Dune data, dormant wallets returning to Solana DEXs jumped to 62k last week, up 400% week-over-week. This suggests that previously inactive users are coming back on-chain as new opportunities continue expanding across the ecosystem. 

However, the bigger story behind Solana’s growth goes beyond its RWA market or DEX volume. The real impact is how this activity is translating into network adoption, with rising dormant activity being just one piece of the puzzle.

And the timing couldn’t be better, as SOL/ETH is approaching a key zone.

Solana’s on-chain strength meets a key SOL/ETH turning point The impact of Solana’s growing RWA and DEX momentum is now showing up across the network.

According to Chainspect data, Solana has generated more revenue than Ethereum for 23 consecutive days. With Solana bringing in around $515k compared to Ethereum’s $133k, the network generated roughly $382k more revenue, or nearly 3.9x Ethereum’s total.

And this isn’t just a short-term spike. Solana currently leads all blockchains in 24-hour DEX volume at $1.5 billion, ahead of Ethereum’s $1.29 billion.

Put together, Solana is showing a strong on-chain growth cycle, where rising DEX activity and RWA adoption are translating into higher network usage, liquidity, and revenue.

Source: TradingView (SOL/ETH) In this context, xStocks’ expansion adds another catalyst for Solana to continue building on this momentum.

From a technical perspective, the timing looks interesting.

As the chart above shows, the SOL/ETH ratio is approaching the 0.035-0.04 range, a zone that previously triggered a strong rally in May as capital rotated into Solana. With Solana’s on-chain strength improving against Ethereum and ETH facing resistance around the $2k level, the setup could favor further upside in the SOL/ETH ratio.

The key takeaway?

This rotation may be more than just a short-term technical move. With Solana’s on-chain growth continuing to accelerate, it could signal a broader divergence between SOL’s strength and ETH’s performance through the rest of Q3.

Final Summary

Tokenized real-world assets have been the crypto industry’s favorite buzzword for two years running. Now someone is trying to do it with the most boring financial instrument imaginable: your bank deposit.

LayerZero, the omnichain messaging protocol that connects over 70 blockchains, has partnered with Keeta, a Layer-1 chain built for payments and fiat interoperability, to enable native cross-chain transfers of tokenized bank deposits. The integration spans Ethereum, Solana, Base, and Keeta’s own network.

What tokenized bank deposits actually are Think of a tokenized bank deposit as a digital twin of the dollars sitting in your checking account. Each token is backed 1:1 by an actual deposit at a regulated bank, retaining the protections and compliance features you’d expect from traditional banking. The difference is that these tokens can move on-chain, 24/7, across multiple networks.

This matters because stablecoins, for all their growth, exist in a regulatory gray zone that makes traditional financial institutions nervous. Tokenized deposits, by contrast, are designed to sit squarely within existing banking frameworks. They’re regulated. They’re backed. And they potentially carry the same federal insurance protections as the deposits behind them.

Advertisement

The distinction is subtle but significant. Stablecoins like USDC are liabilities of the issuer (Circle, in that case). Tokenized deposits remain liabilities of the bank itself. For institutional players and regulators, that’s a meaningful difference in risk profile.

How LayerZero and Keeta make it work LayerZero’s role here is straightforward but critical. Its messaging protocol allows these tokenized deposits to move natively between chains rather than relying on wrapped assets or centralized bridges. The protocol is currently live on Solana’s mainnet beta and connects with Ethereum, Base, Avalanche, Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism, and BNB Chain, among others.

Native transfers matter because wrapped tokens introduce counterparty risk. Every time you wrap an asset to bridge it, you’re trusting the bridge operator to actually hold the underlying token. LayerZero’s approach lets the asset move without that intermediary step, which is a big deal when the asset in question is supposed to represent insured bank deposits.

Keeta brings the payments infrastructure to the table. The Layer-1 blockchain claims to support millions of transactions per second with sub-second settlement times. Keeta’s native token is KTA, while LayerZero operates with its ZRO utility and governance token.

Why this partnership matters for the broader market Investors should pay attention to the competitive dynamics here. JPMorgan has been experimenting with tokenized deposits through its Onyx platform. Citigroup has run pilots.

No specific transaction volumes or total value locked figures are available for the partnership yet, which means the market is pricing this on potential rather than proven traction.

One risk worth flagging: the success of tokenized deposits depends heavily on banks actually participating. LayerZero and Keeta can build the pipes, but someone has to turn on the water. The partnership creates the technical capability for cross-chain deposit transfers, but adoption will ultimately be driven by whether regulated financial institutions see enough demand and enough regulatory clarity to commit.

For traders watching the ZRO and KTA tokens, the near-term catalyst is clear. Every new institutional partnership or bank integration announcement will likely move these assets. Given that global bank deposits measure in the tens of trillions, even capturing a fraction of that flow would be transformative for any protocol involved.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

Flash Trade, a decentralized perpetual trading platform operating on the Solana network, experienced an exploit resulting in the unauthorized withdrawal of $98,000 in USDC. The incident took place on July 22 at 00:21 SGT and was linked to a validation flaw in the MagicBlock software development kit (SDK) used by the platform.

MagicBlock SDK flaw triggers unauthorized withdrawalThe exploit was traced to a vulnerability within the #[ephemeral] Anchor macro in the MagicBlock SDK, which handles callback processes for integrator smart contracts during undelegation requests. The flaw allowed an attacker to bypass undelegation checks by submitting a fabricated account designed to mimic a genuine user deposit.

Within a single transaction, the attacker’s account was used as the buffer for a sibling undelegation instruction. While the system correctly verified that the buffer was a signer owned by the delegation program, it failed to check that the buffer’s seeds matched the correct program-derived address. This oversight provided an opening for the exploit and resulted in the unauthorized withdrawal.

MagicBlock responded by reviewing other integrations that used the affected macro and notifying impacted projects. A patched version of the SDK, 0.16.2, now addresses the missing validation and is being recommended for immediate adoption by all integrators.

Mini dictionary: MagicBlock is a blockchain infrastructure company specializing in software tools and SDKs that enable fast and secure smart contract integration on Solana and other networks.

On July 22 at 00:21 SGT, Flash experienced an attack that resulted in a 98,000 USDC withdrawal from the platform. Flash’s batching and monitoring systems surfaced the activity immediately, and the team paused deposits and withdrawals within minutes.

According to statements from MagicBlock, the company has already worked with affected ecosystem participants to prevent similar incidents and is encouraging early upgrades to the patched SDK version.

Flash Trade reported that its new monitoring and batching systems flagged the unauthorized withdrawal within minutes, allowing the team to react quickly. All trading, deposits, and withdrawals were immediately paused as a precaution while the incident was investigated in coordination with MagicBlock.

Normal trading functions resumed within a few hours, but deposits and withdrawals remained offline for approximately 24 hours during a reconciliation process aimed at confirming all platform balances and ensuring user fund integrity. The team emphasized that this suspension was intentional to guarantee a full and accurate reconciliation.

Flash Trade and MagicBlock have jointly contributed to a reimbursement fund covering the entire affected amount, ensuring that users bear no losses resulting from the exploit.

Both Flash Trade and MagicBlock affirmed that they would fully cover the unauthorized withdrawals, guaranteeing that no user funds would be lost. The prompt response and full reimbursement have drawn praise from the broader Solana community.

Industry reaction and security recommendationsArmani Ferrante, CEO of Backpack, an established digital asset wallet provider, commented publicly on the incident. Ferrante identified the exploit as an example of system design weaknesses in margin trading platforms, suggesting the need for a structural overhaul. He recommended implementing an isolated, formally verified custody contract combined with a 24-hour withdrawal timelock to provide platforms with more time to halt suspicious transactions in the event of a compromise.

Such mechanisms, Ferrante argued, would help contain damage from attacks affecting oracle systems, wallet compromises, and margin manipulation. He recognized Flash Trade’s rapid response, noting the importance of proactive security measures in reducing potential losses.

MagicBlock, following the incident, has pledged ongoing collaboration with blockchain integrators, auditors, and independent security researchers to improve the resilience of their SDK offerings and support the wider ecosystem in mitigating such vulnerabilities moving forward.

PlatformExploit DateAsset AffectedAmount LostUser Funds Covered?Flash TradeJuly 22, 2026USDC$98,000Yes (fully covered)Wanchain Cardano BridgePrevious monthsNIGHT515 millionN/ADisclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.

Solana has solidified its position as the leading blockchain for decentralized exchange (DEX) activity, outpacing not only other blockchains but also some established centralized exchanges. Recent spikes in both DEX volumes and user participation have been driven by active trading on platforms like Meteora and PumpSwap.

Currently, Solana accounts for approximately 20% of all spot DEX trading volume. While activity is still below the levels seen during the 2021 bull market surge, the network maintains a steady baseline and continues to attract new interest.

Solana DEXs have now surpassed the likes of Bybit, as the top five chains engage in fierce competition to secure higher token volumes—including the growing segment of tokenized security trading.

An important factor behind Solana’s steady growth is the sustained influx of stablecoins from both major and smaller issuers. Over the past day, $300 million in new USDC liquidity has been injected into the network, enhancing liquidity and trading activity.

Chain/ExchangeWeekly DEX Spot VolumeSolana$10.29 billionEthereum$6.7 billionBNB Chain$5.8 billionNYSE American$6 billionThe combination of increased meme token offerings and a push into tokenized securities continues to set Solana apart from competing chains.

MetaMask, a widely used multi-chain crypto wallet, has introduced a new incentive for users engaging in swaps on Solana. The wallet will now pay gas fees for all swaps greater than $200, lowering the barrier for retail traders who may not hold SOL tokens.

“SOL-less? we gotchu covered. MetaMask will now pay the gas fee for you on Solana swaps over $200,” MetaMask stated in its latest announcement.

This update comes as retail participation on Solana remains strong, with failed transaction rates hovering around 23%. Retail-friendly tools like Jupiter’s routing services and swap solutions integrated in the Phantom wallet are further facilitating user access to spot trading.

Solana currently offers predictable and competitive average DEX trading fees at $0.19, making it more appealing for newcomers, especially when compared to established networks such as Ethereum and BNB Chain.

Solana overtakes traditional exchange volumesWhile the overall activity on Solana remains lower than traditional fiat-based markets, its presence is increasingly significant in the digital asset space. Solana’s weekly spot DEX volumes have consistently surpassed those of the NYSE American in 2026 to date, with decentralized trading on Solana reaching $10.29 billion last week.

The ongoing increase in trading is largely fueled by PumpSwap tokens and the fast-expanding market for tokenized equities.

Tokenized assets on Solana have risen to $5.77 billion in the second quarter of 2026, marking a 114% increase compared to the previous quarter. Tokenized equities make up 84% of these real-world assets, extending their growth streak to six consecutive quarters.

For the first time, tokenized asset trading has overtaken meme tokens as the primary use case for Solana as of June 23. This shift points towards Solana’s growing appeal among institutional traders and large holders seeking robust settlement layers.

These tokenized equities are also adding significant value to the lending sector on Solana, with a weekly collateral record of $51.9 million—$31 million on Kamino and $20 million on Jupiter’s lending platform.

Mini dictionary: MetaMask is a non-custodial crypto wallet widely used for managing assets and executing swaps across multiple blockchains, including Ethereum and now Solana.

Compared to competitor chains, Solana has become more accessible to newcomers, combining fast transaction speeds with low, predictable fees and a vibrant mix of retail and institutional activity.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.

TLDR: RWA perpetuals now represent nearly 35% of on-chain perpetual trading, with June volume reaching about $118 billion across 652 markets. Public equities control 46% of RWA open interest, supported by roughly $2 billion in positions, $2.2 billion in daily volume and 411 markets. Hyperliquid HIP-3, Solana and exchange-based tokenized stock products are widening round-the-clock access to equities, indices and commodities. Oracle failures, weekend pricing gaps, concentrated liquidity and uneven investor rights create new risks as leveraged RWA markets expand. RWA perpetuals now account for nearly 35% of total on-chain perpetual trading volume in early Q3 2026. Their share stood at only 0.16% in Q4 2025, showing how quickly traditional-market exposure has moved onto crypto rails.

June volume reached about $118 billion, while the number of available markets expanded to 652. Other market trackers also recorded more than $100 billion in June volume and over 600 listed contracts.

Public equities lead the expansion as traders seek leveraged, round-the-clock access to familiar companies without using traditional brokerage hours.

RWA Perpetuals Shift Demand Toward Public Equities Public equities now represent 46% of RWA perpetuals open interest. The segment holds roughly $2 billion in outstanding positions and generated about $2.2 billion in 24-hour volume.

Source: Cryptorank It also supports 411 active markets, compared with 54 precious-metals markets and 41 equity-index markets.

That concentration shows traders prefer listed companies over less liquid real-world assets. Equity contracts offer clear price references, frequent news events, and deep underlying markets.

Earnings, guidance, and macro data can quickly create trading opportunities. Stock perps also remain active when traditional exchanges close.

These contracts provide synthetic price exposure rather than direct share ownership. Traders can open long or short positions, often using USDC collateral, but receive no voting rights or dividends.

Funding rates and oracle prices keep each contract linked to its underlying stock. A Micron contract on TradeXYZ, for example, trades continuously through Hyperliquid infrastructure.

Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 framework has accelerated this shift by allowing qualified builders to deploy custom perpetual markets. The protocol requires deployers to stake 500,000 HYPE, creating an economic backstop for market operators.

HIP-3 markets cover equities, indices, commodities, and pre-IPO references.

The broader tokenized-equities market is also expanding across Solana, Kraken, Bybit and Robinhood-linked infrastructure. Solana accounted for 97% of cumulative tokenized-equity spot volume in May.

Kraken separately expanded xStocks to 100 backed US stocks and ETFs, widening access outside standard market hours.

RWA Perpetuals Growth Exposes New Risks Across Platforms The rapid rise of RWA perpetuals introduces risks that differ from crypto-native contracts. Equity markets close overnight and on weekends, while on-chain perps continue trading.

Platforms must manage price gaps, funding changes and thin liquidity when primary exchanges are inactive.

Oracle dependence creates another weak point. RWA contracts rely on external feeds for stock, index and commodity prices.

Ostium halted trading after an attacker manipulated its price-reporting infrastructure and drained about $18 million in USDC during July. The incident showed how a compromised oracle component can turn false prices into profitable trades.

Liquidity is also concentrated among a small group of venues and builders. TradeXYZ has controlled most HIP-3 open interest during several growth phases.

Such dominance can improve execution, but it increases exposure to one platform’s technology, market design, and risk controls.
Regulatory treatment remains uneven. Some tokenized shares represent backed instruments, while equity perps provide only cash-settled exposure.
Jurisdiction, investor rights, custody, and disclosure rules vary across platforms. Traders must therefore examine contract terms, oracle design, liquidation rules, and weekend pricing before taking leveraged positions.

Grayscale has filed a new Form 8-K tied to its Solana product, outlining a trust agreement amendment that would allow net staking rewards to be distributed to shareholders at least quarterly.

The filing relates to Grayscale Solana Staking ETF, or GSOL, and was filed with the SEC on July 17. The amendment is expected to become effective on August 7, 2026.

The key point is that this is not a spot Solana ETF approval story.

The filing concerns how staking rewards may be handled for the existing Solana-linked trust structure. It introduces a cash payout mechanism for net staking rewards, which could make the product more attractive to investors who want Solana exposure with a clearer income component.

For Solana, it also shows how staking economics continue to shape institutional product design.

TL;DR Grayscale filed a Form 8-K tied to its Solana staking product on July 17. The amendment would allow net staking rewards to be paid to shareholders at least quarterly. The filing concerns distribution mechanics, not approval of a new spot Solana ETF. Solana Staking Is Becoming Part Of Product Design Solana is a proof-of-stake network, which means staking is central to how the network works.

Tokenholders can delegate SOL to validators and earn rewards for helping secure the chain. In direct ownership, those rewards are part of the appeal. But when investors access SOL through a trust or fund product, staking becomes more complicated.

Who controls the staking process? How are rewards calculated? What fees are deducted? Are rewards reinvested or paid out? How often are distributions made? What risks come with validator selection?

These are not small details for institutional investors.

A product that holds staked SOL but does not clearly pass benefits through to shareholders may be less attractive than one with a defined payout structure. Grayscale’s proposed amendment addresses that question by introducing cash payouts of net staking rewards at least quarterly.

That gives investors a clearer framework for how staking income may be reflected.

Why Quarterly Payouts Matter Quarterly payouts make the product easier to understand.

Traditional investors are used to funds that distribute income on a schedule. Bond funds, dividend funds, and other yield-linked products often use regular distributions to make income visible.

Crypto staking rewards are different, but the investor expectation can be similar.

If a Solana product can translate staking rewards into scheduled cash payouts, it may become easier for advisors, funds, and institutions to evaluate. It turns an on-chain reward mechanism into something closer to a familiar financial product feature.

That does not remove risk.

Staking yields can fluctuate. Validator performance matters. Network conditions can change. Fees and expenses reduce net payouts. Regulatory treatment may evolve.

But the structure is more legible to traditional investors than a vague promise of staking exposure.

Not A Spot ETF Approval It is important to keep the filing in proportion.

The Form 8-K does not mean regulators have approved a new spot Solana ETF. It does not mean Solana has cleared the same path as Bitcoin or Ethereum in the ETF market. It is a trust agreement amendment involving distribution mechanics.

That distinction matters because Solana ETF speculation has been a major market theme.

Traders often react quickly to anything involving Grayscale, Solana, SEC filings, or staking language. But not every filing is an ETF approval milestone. Some filings deal with product operations, disclosures, agreements, or shareholder mechanics.

This one is about staking reward distributions.

That is still meaningful, especially for investors watching how crypto products evolve. It just should not be misread as a regulatory green light for a spot Solana ETF.

Solana Products Are Getting More Sophisticated The broader trend is that Solana investment products are becoming more sophisticated.

As Solana’s network activity, DeFi ecosystem, and institutional profile grow, asset managers have more reason to design products around SOL exposure. Staking is a natural part of that conversation because it is embedded in the network’s economics.

For institutions, the question is not only whether they want SOL exposure. It is what kind of exposure they want.

Direct custody gives maximum control but requires operational infrastructure. Fund products simplify access but introduce fees, structures, and rules around staking. A trust with scheduled net reward payouts sits somewhere in the middle.

Grayscale’s filing shows how these products may evolve before or alongside any future ETF decisions.

Solana investors should watch the effective date and any further disclosures about payout mechanics, expenses, and staking operations.

For now, the filing adds another institutional layer to Solana’s market story.

It does not change the regulatory status of spot Solana ETFs, but it does show that staking rewards are becoming harder for asset managers to ignore.

This article is based on Grayscale’s July 17 SEC Form 8-K filing for GSOL.

This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.

https://www.investopedia.com/solana-5210472

Tokenized equities on Solana have reached a new milestone with lending market activity hitting a weekly all-time high of $51.9 million, according to data from SolanaFloor. Kamino and Jupiter Exchange are key platforms contributing to this surge, with over $31 million and $20 million respectively. This development reflects growing interest and usage of tokenized equities within the Solana ecosystem, suggesting increased collateral use and participation in onchain credit markets. Recent records in the overall Solana tokenized equity market, including a significant $535 million in total outstanding value, further highlight the ecosystem’s expanding reach.

Advertisement

Key Takeaways Solana’s tokenized equities have achieved a weekly record of $51.9 million in lending markets, suggesting increased engagement. Kamino and Jupiter Exchange are the primary platforms driving this growth, with significant contributions to the weekly total. The broader Solana tokenized equity market has also shown substantial growth, with a total outstanding value peaking at $535 million. What to Watch Markets are closely monitoring whether the increased activity in tokenized equities on Solana will influence its price trajectory. Key developments such as potential ETF inflows, regulatory changes, and ecosystem upgrades could impact the likelihood of Solana reaching higher price targets. Observers are particularly attentive to whether these dynamics align with scenarios where Solana achieves or exceeds the $90 price level by the end of July. Further announcements from Solana Labs or shifts in regulatory stances may provide additional indicators.

Get live prediction-market analysis, powered by Vera. Sign up for Vera.

Term Structure

Contract Odds Δ since publish Volume 24h August 1 2026 8% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.2% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.1% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.9% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.7% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.4% — — View market → August 1 2026 1.6% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.4% — — View market → August 1 2026 2.6% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.1% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.6% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.1% — — View market → August 1 2026 22% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.1% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.1% — — View market →

Bitcoin Provides Defensive ExposureBlue Macellari, T. Rowe Price’s head of digital assets and the ETF’s lead portfolio manager, said the fund reflects the company’s longstanding emphasis on active management and fundamental research.

"We were never going to launch just a Bitcoin ETF," Macellari said during an appearance on the Crypto Prime podcast on Monday.

Its initial portfolio was led by Bitcoin at roughly 41% and ETH at about 18%, followed by positions in BNB, SOL XRP, HYPE and smaller allocations to other assets.

Macellari described the current market as a crypto winter and noted the fund is positioned relatively defensively, explaining its substantial Bitcoin weighting.

‘Tokenization Good, Crypto Bad’ Is A False DivideMacellari argued that Wall Street often tries to separate tokenization from cryptocurrencies by claiming tokenization is valuable while native digital assets are not.

She rejected that distinction.

If stocks, funds and other financial products migrate to public blockchains, their activity could create value for the networks and native tokens underpinning those systems.

The broader portfolio reflects T. Rowe Price’s bullish outlook on what she called "on-chain finance."         

Macellari highlighted Hyperliquid’s revenue model as particularly compelling because it can be understood and valued using metrics familiar to traditional investors.

ETH and SOL may also benefit as financial institutions move tokenized assets and around-the-clock markets onto blockchain networks, she predicts.

Crypto Winter May Approach Its Final StageMacellari explained that the market has been in a persistent downturn since the October 2025 selloff, marking the first crypto winter experienced by many investors through spot exchange-traded products.

Bitcoin has suffered a drawdown of about 50%, while Ethereum, Solana and other altcoins have faced deeper declines.

However, she said the selloff has created more attractive asymmetric opportunities in projects whose underlying adoption and economics remain intact.

The key difference from previous winters is that banks, asset managers and financial platforms have continued developing digital-asset infrastructure rather than abandoning the sector.

Macellari expects choppy conditions and the possibility of further declines through the summer but believes the market could begin emerging from crypto winter heading into Q4.

Image: Shutterstock

Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

© 2026 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.

JTX, the trading platform designed by the architects of Solana’s execution infrastructure, is now live, bringing a professional-standard trading experience to the onchain economy. 

The launch comes as Solana solidifies its position as crypto’s leading venue for high-performance spot trading, dominating DEX volumes and outperforming CEX execution to give traders the best possible fills.

Dedicating 80% of protocol revenue to $JTO value accrual, JTX could represent one of the biggest catalysts for the growth of Jito’s native token.

Over 100,000 Waitlisted Users Gain Full Access to JTX After many weeks of eager anticipation, Jito has opened the floodgates to JTX, giving Solana’s onchain traders access to the network’s first institutional-standard professional trading venue. 

Initially supporting the full breadth of Solana’s spot markets, including its flourishing RWA sector, JTX is expected to enable support for perpetual futures trading and prediction markets in the near future.

"Over the past four years, Jito has powered the Solana ecosystem, building the execution infrastructure that the network's trading activity runs on. JTX takes that same infrastructure and puts it directly in the hands of traders for the first time. It combines self-custody with execution tools that have typically only been available through more advanced trading platforms. Users hold their own keys, settlement happens onchain, and there are no custody tradeoffs,” - Lucas Bruder, Jito Labs Co-Founder and CEO

From launch, JTX offers traders a comprehensive suite of professional order types, from basics like resting limit orders to more sophisticated tools like TWAPs and conditional orders. Meanwhile, exclusive features like JTX Smart Fills break large orders into a burst of smaller orders to mitigate price impact and improve execution.

In parallel, JTX runs simulated execution comparisons against the industry’s leading centralized exchanges, informing traders of how much they save on each trade to Solana’s innate outperformance.

The Trading Venue Solana Deserves Solana has emerged as crypto’s most performant network for global-scale trading. Beyond dominating all blockchains in spot DEX volume since Q4 2024, recent improvements to Solana’s onchain market structure, like Jito’s BAM Maker Plugin, have elevated trade execution on the network to unprecedented levels.

According to a recent Blockworks report, traders consistently get better fills trading on Solana than on exchanges like Binance. Research from Jump Crypto has reinforced this thesis, claiming that Solana’s onchain execution outperforms Binance in 99.3% or retail-sized swaps.

With demand for 24/7 RWA and tokenized asset trading in DeFi exploding in 2026, Solana has successfully captured the vast majority of spot flows. 

Boasting one of crypto’s most vibrant and diverse RWA economies, Solana recorded $5.8B in quarterly tokenized asset volume. Onchain data indicates that over 300,000 wallets on Solana hold RWAs, highlighting strong demand among market participants.

But despite Solana’s traders embracing traditional asset classes like tokenized stocks and commodities, the network itself has been lacking an institutional-grade trading venue. JTX promises to fill that void, giving professional traders the tools they need to effectively navigate Solana’s market layer.

"Demand for tokenized assets and a professionalized interface on Solana has grown considerably, driven by deeper liquidity and a maturing set of onchain products. JTX gives traders a platform built specifically for that environment, offering execution quality that matches what they expect on centralized exchanges, without giving up self-custody." - Kevin Beardsley, JTX Head of Product

80% of JTX Revenue to $JTO Following the approval of an upcoming governance proposal, JIP-38, Jito DAO is expected to route 80% of all JTX revenue directly to $JTO value accrual, with the remaining 20% being reinvested into ongoing protocol development.

If passed, JIP-38 will introduce programmatic $JTO buybacks and burns for at least one year, subject to re-appraisal in Q4 2027. 

Having designed the architecture of the network’s best-in-class market layer and powering the bulk of Solana’s 250M+ daily transactions, JTX joins Jito’s growing suite as the Solana infrastructure giant’s flagship consumer product.

Alongside network staples like the Jito Block Engine, $jitoSOL, and BAM, JTX represents Jito’s full-stack commitment to making Solana the world’s leading decentralized trading environment, capable of competing with centralized exchanges and setting a new standard for Internet Capital Markets

Disclaimer: SolanaFloor is a subsidiary of the Jito Network

Read More on SolanaFloor  Welcome to the tradingFloor

Introducing tradingFloor: A Thesis-Driven Livestream for Solana’s Onchain Traders

Jito CEO Lucas Bruder Joins the Big Picture

https://www.investopedia.com/solana-5210472

Tokenized assets on the Solana blockchain have reached a new pinnacle, totaling $5.8 billion in the second quarter of 2026. This figure marks a 114% increase from the previous quarter, continuing a trend of six consecutive quarterly all-time highs. The surge is largely driven by tokenized stocks, which accounted for roughly $4.8 billion of the network’s total tokenized equity activity. Solana’s dominance in institutional real-world asset settlement is further cemented, as it manages over 96% of all tokenized stock trades on blockchain networks. This growth occurs despite a decline in broader decentralized exchange (DEX) spot volume.

Advertisement

Key Takeaways The record-setting $5.8 billion in tokenized assets on Solana suggests robust institutional demand and strengthens its competitive position as a leading blockchain for tokenized stocks. The market pricing for Solana reaching $90 in July reflects an increase in confidence, with YES outcomes rising from 6% to 9% over the past 24 hours. The continuous quarterly growth in tokenized assets on Solana is consistent with scenarios where increased adoption and confidence in Solana’s capabilities could drive further interest and value. What to Watch Watch for any further increases in tokenized asset volumes on Solana, as these could indicate sustained institutional interest. Key developments to monitor include potential regulatory changes or new financial product approvals that could impact Solana’s market positioning. Additionally, movements in Solana’s price, especially if it approaches the $90 mark, could suggest shifts in market confidence and demand dynamics.

Get live prediction-market analysis, powered by Vera. Sign up for Vera.

Term Structure

Contract Odds Δ since publish Volume 24h August 1 2026 9% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.2% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.1% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.9% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.7% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.5% — — View market → August 1 2026 1.8% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.5% — — View market → August 1 2026 2.7% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.1% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.9% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.1% — — View market → August 1 2026 23% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.1% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.1% — — View market →

Grayscale filed with the SEC on July 20 for a spot Worldcoin (WLD) exchange-traded fund. The fund would trade on Nasdaq under the ticker GWLD.

Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart confirmed the filing on X. The twist is that Grayscale’s own paperwork spells out why WLD is such a risky bet.

What the Grayscale Worldcoin ETF Filing SaysThe SEC filing shows Grayscale moved fast. It formed the trust on July 10 and filed just 10 days later. BitGo will hold the WLD, and BNY Mellon will run the fund’s books.

Follow us on X to get the latest news as it happens

Grayscale knows this path well. Its Bitcoin Trust became a spot ETF in January 2024 after the firm beat the SEC in court. Solana and Dogecoin funds followed in late 2025.

Some details are still missing. The fee is blank, and no trading partners are named yet.

The Risks Grayscale Itself ListsWorldcoin verifies humans by scanning their eyes with a device called the Orb. The filing admits regulators pushed back hard. Spain, Portugal, Germany, Hong Kong, Brazil, Kenya, and Indonesia all took action between 2024 and 2025.

The token math looks rough too. The 100 largest wallets hold about 90% of circulating WLD. Team and investor tokens keep unlocking until around July 2028.

Then there is the price. WLD trades near $0.375, up 3.3% on the day. That is still about 97% below its March 2024 peak of $11.74.

Worldcoin (WLD) Price Performance. Source: BeInCryptoA June treasury purchase gave the token a brief lift. Meanwhile, Tools for Humanity layoffs at the project’s lead developer dragged it back down.

GWLD cannot trade until the SEC signs off and Nasdaq clears the listing. Easier access may help, but WLD’s path forward likely hinges on those token unlocks.

Solana price has stalled near $76 after repeated failures at $80, as two ecosystem exploits, weak momentum, and geopolitical stress have kept traders cautious.

Summary

Solana price remains below $80 as security incidents weigh on trader sentiment. Bearish daily momentum contrasts with positive 4-hour capital flows near $76. Losing $73 could expose SOL to $70 and the mid-$60s region. According to data from crypto.news, Solana (SOL) price traded at $76.12 at the time of writing, down 0.34% on the daily candle after moving between $75.50 and $77.40. The token has gained only about 0.3% over the past seven days, compared with a 3% rise across the global crypto market.

Security concerns have weighed on sentiment throughout July. An attacker drained roughly $20 million from BonkDAO after spending about $4.4 million to acquire enough BONK to pass a malicious governance proposal. Only seven wallets voted, and the proposal received 99.9% approval.

Another attack hit Allbridge Core on July 20. crypto.news reported that the exploiter borrowed $1.12 million in USDC through Kamino, manipulated the protocol’s USDC-USDT pool and extracted more than $1.1 million before routing the funds through privacy tools. Some estimates placed the total liquidity loss near $1.65 million, while Allbridge paused the protocol and began investigating the incident.

Phantom also reported degraded performance for token transfers and swaps on July 12. Account balances and other wallet functions remained available, but the disruption added friction for users during a week in which SOL was already struggling to draw enough demand for a break above $80.

Network activity has provided little relief. Trading on Pump.fun and other speculative venues has fallen from previous peaks, reducing the fee activity that once accompanied Solana’s memecoin boom. Stablecoin balances on the network may offer deployable capital, but holders must exchange those assets for SOL before that liquidity can support the token directly.

Solana price must reclaim $80 to confirm a bullish reversal The daily chart places the main resistance at $79.96, where SOL’s early-July recovery failed, and sellers pushed the price back toward $75. A daily close above $80 would clear the psychological barrier and reopen the route toward the July swing high around $83, followed by the $90–$98 region.

Solana daily price chart — July 20 | Source: crypto.news According to analyst Daan Crypto Trades, SOL now sits at a decisive high-time-frame area where its next reaction could set the direction for the coming weeks.

“Either the bulls push through and set a higher low here to take a stab at the range high in the $90s. Or this rejects here and dribbles back down to that mid $60s area.”

Daily momentum has weakened since the early-July rally. The moving average convergence divergence line has dropped to 0.23, below its 0.63 signal line, while the histogram has slipped to minus 0.40. Buyers still control the medium-term structure above the daily Supertrend at $69.62, but the bearish MACD crossover leaves SOL exposed to another test of support.

On the 4-hour chart, SOL remains inside a descending parallel channel that began after the July 3 peak near $83. Price has reached the upper boundary around $76–$77, making a confirmed close above the trendline necessary before traders can treat the latest advance as a breakout.

Solana price is edging for a breakout from a descending parallel channel pattern on the 4-hour chart — July 20 | Source: crypto.news Conflicting momentum readings keep that setup unresolved. Aroon Down stands at 78.57%, compared with Aroon Up at 14.29%, giving sellers the stronger recent trend reading. Chaikin Money Flow, however, sits at 0.23, which shows that net capital flow over the measured period remains positive despite the lower highs.

The one-week liquidation heatmap shows concentrated leverage above the market at $77.50–$78.20, with another dense band near $78.80. A move through those levels could force short liquidations and help SOL retest $80. Smaller liquidity pockets sit near $76.40, while downside clusters around $74.20–$75 could draw price lower if buyers lose control of $75.41.

Solana liquidation heatmap | Source: CoinGlass Break below $73 would invalidate the recovery attempt Immediate support rests at $75.41, followed by the stronger daily level at $73.44. A close below the latter would weaken the higher-low structure and expose the lower edge of the 4-hour channel near $71. The Supertrend at $69.62 would then become the last major defense before Daan’s mid-$60s bearish target returns to view.

Macroeconomic conditions also threaten the setup. Renewed U.S.-Iran hostilities have pushed oil above $90 per barrel and lifted the average U.S. gasoline price back to $4, according to AP. Higher energy costs could keep inflation elevated and limit the Federal Reserve’s room to reduce interest rates.

The 10-year Treasury yield rose to about 4.56% on July 20, while the dollar index held near 100.8. Persistently high yields and a firm dollar could keep institutional portfolios defensive and restrict capital flows into volatile altcoins.

For bulls, the clean confirmation remains a daily close above $80 followed by a successful retest. Until then, SOL remains trapped between positive spot inflows on the 4-hour chart and a weakening daily momentum structure, with $73–$80 defining the next decisive range.

Disclosure: This article does not represent investment advice. The content and materials featured on this page are for educational purposes only.

Cover image via depositphotos.com Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by our writers are their own and do not represent the views of U.Today. The financial and market information provided on U.Today is intended for informational purposes only. U.Today is not liable for any financial losses incurred while trading cryptocurrencies. Conduct your own research by contacting financial experts before making any investment decisions. We believe that all content is accurate as of the date of publication, but certain offers mentioned may no longer be available.

Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko outlined the network's long-term development path. Comparing the blockchain's technological stages to the 12-year period between the beginning of the American Revolution and the signing of the U.S. Constitution, he made it clear that reaching the Nakamoto milestone will take years.

From AI infrastructure to securitySolana is currently at the stage of large-scale Model Context Protocol (MCP) deployment. It connects the blockchain with artificial intelligence, allowing AI agents to natively analyze the network and manage wallets. However, Yakovenko is looking beyond the current hype surrounding AI.

His goal is the Nakamoto standard, which means a radical increase in the Nakamoto coefficient. This metric shows how many validators would need to be controlled to block or censor a blockchain. 

HOT Stories

The same amount of time will pass between full mcp and Nakamoto as between the constitution and the revolution 🇺🇸

— toly 🇺🇸 (@toly) July 20, 2026 Solana's current score stands at around 20, heavily restricted by data center concentration and geographic staking clusters. 

The goal of the new architecture is to raise it to a level that would make the network physically resistant to any external pressure, effectively distributing consensus power far beyond the current top-tier validation firms.

Why does this matter?Solana has already addressed its technical problems with speed and outages through the release of the ultra-fast Firedancer client, which pushed hardware efficiency limits to over one million transactions per second in test environments, introducing vital client diversity to eliminate single points of software failure. 

But high speed is useless if the network can still be censored.

You Might Also Like

In this context, Yakovenko's statement is not just another tweet, but the formalization of a new strategic plan in which Solana moves beyond its status as a "fast and cheap network for coins" and begins a direct expansion into Ethereum's territory, targeting its main advantage — long-term reliability and decentralization for institutional users, thereby positioning SOL as a sovereign, uncensorable Layer-1 asset capable of meeting strict global regulatory compliance standards.

Robinhood Chain launched, filled with memecoins, briefly ranked third among DEXs, and the “Solana killer” talk started immediately. Then you look at the actual numbers. Solana has 27 times the value locked and 2 million more users. This is not a flippening. It is a fair fight over the wrong metric.

Summary

Robinhood Chain launched July 1 and drew roughly $185 million in value locked and over $3 billion in first-week DEX volume, briefly ranking among the top DEXs by volume and prompting Solana comparisons. Solana dwarfs it on every durable metric: around $4.93 billion in value locked, $1.91 billion in daily DEX volume, more than 2 million active addresses, and roughly $3 million in daily app revenue. The gap on value locked is about 27 to 1. On active users, it is larger. Volume alone, the one metric where Robinhood looked competitive, is the least durable measure and is inflated by a memecoin frenzy and a gas subsidy. The real bull case for Robinhood is not flipping Solana on-chain. It is distribution: roughly 28 million existing customers and a decade of retail brand equity that no crypto-native chain can match. The honest verdict is that Robinhood will not flip Solana on DeFi metrics any time soon, but the two are not actually competing for the same thing, which makes the flippening question the wrong one. Within days of Robinhood Chain going live, the comparison wrote itself. A memecoin frenzy sent the chain’s DEX volume past $3 billion in a week; it briefly cracked the top three networks by daily DEX volume, and crypto Twitter did what crypto Twitter does: it declared a Solana killer.

The parallel was tidy. Solana also grew through a memecoin boom, so surely Robinhood was running the same playbook toward the same destination. Then you pull the actual data, and the tidy story falls apart. Solana has roughly 27 times Robinhood Chain’s value locked and millions more users.

The one metric where Robinhood looked competitive, raw volume, is the flimsiest number on the board. This piece is about whether Robinhood Chain can flip Solana, and the short answer is no, not close, and the more interesting answer is that flipping Solana was never the right frame.

The scoreboard Start with the numbers, because the numbers settle most of the argument before it starts.

Solana, as of mid-July 2026, carries around $4.93 billion in total value locked, does roughly $1.91 billion in daily DEX volume, has more than 2 million active addresses, and generates about $3 million in daily application revenue. These are the metrics of a mature, heavily used layer-1 with a deep DeFi ecosystem, years of accumulated liquidity, and a large, sticky user base.

Robinhood Chain, roughly 2 weeks after launch, sits at around $185 million in value locked, having posted more than $3 billion in DEX volume across its first week. Depending on the day and the source, its TVL has been quoted between $185 million and $312 million, with the higher figure heavy on stablecoin deposits. Active addresses are counted in the hundreds of thousands cumulatively, not the millions active.

Line the durable metrics up, and the gap is stark. On value locked, Solana leads by a factor of roughly 27 to one against the lower Robinhood figure, and still around 16 to 1 against the higher one. On active users, the gap is larger still. On application revenue, Solana’s ecosystem earns real fees across a diverse set of protocols; Robinhood Chain’s revenue is concentrated in memecoin trading and inflated by incentives. There is exactly one metric where Robinhood looked competitive in its first fortnight, and that is raw DEX volume, where a memecoin frenzy briefly pushed it into the same conversation as networks many times its size.

That single metric is doing all the work in the flippening narrative, and it is the metric that deserves the least trust.

Why volume is the wrong number Volume is seductive because it is large and it moves fast, and it is misleading for the same reasons.

Robinhood Chain’s $3 billion first week was overwhelmingly memecoin trading. CASHCAT alone generated roughly $98 million in a single day, about 17% of the chain’s entire DEX volume, and the broader wave of Robinhood-themed tokens, Cash Dog in Hood, Little John, Hoodrat, drove most of the rest.

Memecoin volume is the most transient category of on-chain activity there is. It arrives with attention and leaves with it, and it leaves no infrastructure behind. A chain doing $3 billion in memecoin volume this week can do a fraction of that next month, as the 33% single-day CASHCAT drop after its launchpad exited already showed.

Then there is the subsidy. Robinhood Chain ran a 90-day gas fee subsidy from launch, which makes transactions artificially cheap and inflates transaction counts and, indirectly, trading activity. Any volume comparison during the subsidy window is measuring a promotion as much as organic demand. The honest read of that number will only be available once the subsidy expires and users start paying real costs.

Value locked, by contrast, is sticky. It represents capital that has chosen to reside on the chain, in lending protocols, liquidity pools, and asset-management strategies, and it does not evaporate with a memecoin’s attention cycle. Solana’s ~$4.93 billion in TVL is the accumulated result of years of protocols, integrations, and users committing capital. Robinhood’s ~$185 million is a 2-week-old figure heavily weighted toward stablecoin deposits and speculative liquidity. TVL is the metric that predicts whether a chain is durable. Volume is the metric that predicts whether it is currently trending. They are not the same, and the flippening narrative relies entirely on the second.

The bull case for Robinhood The strong case for Robinhood Chain does not run through on-chain metrics at all, and the people making the flippening argument are looking in the wrong place because the actual advantage is off-chain.

Robinhood has roughly 28 million customers across 38 countries and more than a decade as one of the largest retail investment platforms in the United States. That is a distribution asset no crypto-native chain possesses. Solana had to acquire its users one at a time through the slow, expensive work of crypto adoption.

Robinhood already has tens of millions of funded accounts belonging to people comfortable trading both stocks and crypto, and it can put its chain in front of them inside an app they already use. If even a modest fraction of that base becomes active on-chain, the user numbers change quickly. Brand equity and distribution are exactly what earlier tokenization projects lacked, and Robinhood has both in abundance.

The memecoin-as-ignition argument also has real historical support. Solana itself grew through a memecoin cycle: BONK, WIF, and the Pump.fun era, before it produced serious infrastructure and institutional adoption. Base followed a similar arc. Speculative trading bootstraps the liquidity, the market makers, the tooling, and the attention that serious applications later need. In this reading, Robinhood Chain’s memecoin phase is not a failure to attract real activity; it is the normal first stage, and judging a 2-week-old chain by its TVL is like judging Solana by its 2021 numbers.

And Robinhood is playing a different game entirely. Its chain is built for tokenized stocks and real-world assets, a category Solana is also chasing but where Robinhood brings brokerage licenses, custody relationships, and regulatory infrastructure that a crypto-native chain has to build from scratch. If the RWA thesis plays out, Robinhood competes on ground where its traditional-finance credentials are an advantage, not on the DeFi metrics where Solana is years ahead. The flippening question assumes the two chains want to be the same thing. They may not.

The bear case for Robinhood The skeptical case is that Robinhood Chain has attracted exactly the kind of activity that does not convert, and that the gap to Solana is not a head start Robinhood can close but a structural difference it may never close.

The mercenary-liquidity problem is the core of it. Memecoin traders are loyal to activity, not to chains. They arrived on Robinhood Chain because that is where the new-launch action was, and they will leave for the next chain offering quicker profits without a second thought. The Noxa launchpad that powered the entire boom generated roughly $12 million in fees and then stopped accepting launches and went dark within 11 days of the chain’s launch. That is not the behavior of infrastructure settling in; it is the behavior of an extraction cycle moving through. When the memecoin attention leaves, the question is what remains, and right now what remains is roughly $12.8 million in actual tokenized real-world assets, the thing the chain was built for.

The convert-the-traffic problem compounds it. Robinhood’s 28 million customers are a distribution asset only if they can be moved on-chain, and there is no evidence yet that memecoin degens and Robinhood’s retail stock traders are the same people or that 1 becomes the other. The chain’s current users may have almost no overlap with the tokenized-asset investors Robinhood hopes to serve. Distribution is potential, not conversion, and the conversion has not been proven.

Then there is the structural point that on-chain metrics are not a race Robinhood is quietly winning. Solana continues to outperform Robinhood Chain across essentially every DeFi metric despite the new chain’s loud debut, and Solana is not standing still. It has its own institutional momentum, its own tokenized-asset push, its own SBI partnership for on-chain financial markets in Japan. Robinhood is not catching a stationary target. It is entering, 2 weeks old, a competition against a network with a multi-year head start that is itself accelerating. Closing a 27-to-1 TVL gap against a moving, growing competitor is a different proposition than the volume charts suggest.

The Base comparison nobody makes The flippening debate fixates on Solana, but the more instructive comparison is Coinbase’s Base, because Base is the closest thing to a control group for exactly what Robinhood is attempting, and it complicates both the bull and bear cases.

Base launched in 2023 as a corporate-backed Ethereum layer 2, built by a licensed, publicly traded American financial company with a large existing user base, aimed at bringing mainstream users on-chain. That is Robinhood Chain’s template almost exactly. And Base’s early growth, like Robinhood’s, ran heavily through memecoins before it developed into a more diversified ecosystem. So Base is the case study for whether a corporate chain can convert a speculative launch into durable activity, and the answer it offers is genuinely mixed.

On the bull side, Base did convert. It built real DeFi, real stablecoin activity, and real applications on top of the initial speculation, and it became one of the larger L2s by several measures. Coinbase’s distribution, tens of millions of users, mattered, and the memecoin phase did function as ignition rather than as the whole story. That is the precedent Robinhood is betting on, and it is a real one: a corporate chain did turn a speculative launch into something lasting.

On the bear side, Base did not flip Solana either, and it had a 2-year head start on Robinhood plus a parent company that was crypto-native from birth. If Base, with Coinbase’s crypto-specific expertise and a longer runway, sits alongside Solana instead of above it, the idea that Robinhood Chain will vault past Solana looks even less plausible. And Base has its own value-capture questions as an Ethereum L2, the same ones that apply to Robinhood Chain, where the base layer captures little of the economics. Base shows the corporate-chain model can work; it also shows that working means becoming a significant chain, not dethroning the incumbent. That is the realistic ceiling for Robinhood Chain too: not flipping Solana, but earning a durable place alongside it, and only if it converts the way Base did rather than fading the way most launch-frenzies do.

What a flippening would actually require The word “flippening” gets thrown around loosely, so it is worth being precise about what would have to happen for Robinhood Chain to actually surpass Solana, because the specifics show why the headline math is not close.

Flipping Solana is not one event; it is a set of them across separate metrics, and they do not move together. On total value locked, Solana holds roughly $4.93 billion against Robinhood Chain’s ~$185 million, a gap of about 27 times. Closing that does not mean matching Solana’s memecoin volume for a week. It means persuading serious capital, lending markets, stablecoin issuers, restaking protocols, and asset managers to park billions on a corporate L2, which is a trust-and-time problem that speculative volume does nothing to solve. TVL is sticky precisely because it represents commitment, and commitment is the thing a memecoin wave cannot manufacture.

On active addresses, Solana runs above 2 million against a far smaller base on Robinhood Chain, and the composition matters more than the count. Solana’s addresses span DeFi users, NFT traders, payment apps, and memecoin degens across a mature ecosystem. Robinhood Chain’s early activity is concentrated in memecoin speculation and a gas subsidy that inflates the raw transaction figure. An address trading CASHCAT once is not equivalent to an address running a lending position, a payment flow, and a staking allocation. The headline number can converge while the underlying engagement stays a chasm apart.

On application revenue, Solana generates around $3 million daily from a diversified base of protocols. Robinhood Chain’s revenue is thin and skewed toward the launchpad-and-memecoin complex that already showed it can evaporate in days when Noxa went dark. Sustainable app revenue requires applications people use for reasons other than speculation, and building that catalog is measured in years of developer adoption, not weeks of viral trading.

Then there is the structural ceiling nobody in the flippening conversation mentions: Robinhood Chain excludes US persons from its flagship products. Stock Tokens are barred to Americans, wallet perpetuals are barred to Americans, and the chain’s entire regulated-RWA thesis is aimed at a user base that cannot legally touch its marquee offerings from Robinhood’s home market. Solana has no such wall. A chain competing for global L1 dominance with its largest potential market fenced off from its best products is running the race with a weight the incumbent does not carry.

Put those together, and the flippening is not a single line for Robinhood Chain to cross. It is four separate lines, on four metrics that move at different speeds for different reasons, at least one of which is capped by regulation. Memecoin volume, the one number Robinhood Chain can actually post, is the least sticky and least predictive of the set. That is why the honest answer to the headline is not “not yet.” It is “not close, and the gap is wider than the volume charts make it look.”

The verdict So will Robinhood Chain flip Solana? On the metrics that matter, no, and not close, and not soon.

The value-locked gap is roughly 27 to 1. The user gap is larger. The revenue gap is structural. The only metric where Robinhood was competitive is raw volume, which is the least durable measure available, is dominated by transient memecoin trading, and is inflated by a temporary gas subsidy. A chain does not flip a mature layer-1 by winning the one number that evaporates when attention moves on. Every durable indicator points to Solana remaining well ahead for the foreseeable future.

But the question contains a flawed assumption, and that is the more useful thing to say. “Flip Solana” treats the two chains as competitors for the same prize, and they may not be. Solana is a general-purpose, crypto-native layer-1 with a deep DeFi ecosystem built by and for crypto users. Robinhood Chain is a corporate settlement layer built by a licensed brokerage to bring tokenized stocks and real-world assets to a retail base that already trades on Robinhood. Their overlap right now is memecoins, which is precisely the activity neither of them was built for and which will belong to whichever chain is currently paying attention. The lasting competition, if there is one, is over tokenized real-world assets, and that race has barely started.

The honest framing is this. Robinhood will not out-DeFi Solana; that is not a contest it is positioned to win and probably not one it is trying to win. What Robinhood can do is convert a slice of 28 million existing customers into on-chain users of tokenized-asset products, on rails where its brokerage credentials matter more than its DEX volume. If it does that, it does not need to flip Solana, because it will be winning a different game. If it does not, the memecoin volume fades, the chain settles back to its $12.8 million of real assets, and the flippening talk looks like what it probably is: a volume chart mistaken for a verdict. The number to watch is not DEX volume and not the gap to Solana. It is whether tokenized real-world assets on Robinhood Chain grow, and Robinhood’s July 29 earnings are the first real look.

Frequently Asked Questions Is Robinhood Chain bigger than Solana? No, and the gap is large. As of mid-July 2026, Solana holds around $4.93 billion in total value locked against Robinhood Chain’s roughly $185 million, a gap of about 27 to 1. Solana also has more than 2 million active addresses and around $1.91 billion in daily DEX volume from a mature ecosystem. Robinhood Chain briefly matched Solana on raw DEX volume during a memecoin frenzy, but trails badly on every durable metric.

Why do people compare Robinhood Chain to Solana? Because Robinhood Chain’s DEX volume surged past $3 billion in its first week, briefly ranking among the top networks, and because Solana famously grew through a memecoin cycle of its own before maturing. The parallel is that both bootstrapped with speculation. The comparison relies heavily on volume, which is the least durable metric and, for Robinhood, is inflated by memecoin trading and a temporary gas subsidy.

Could Robinhood Chain flip Solana eventually? On DeFi metrics, it is unlikely any time soon, given a 27-to-1 value-locked gap against a competitor that is itself growing. Robinhood’s real advantage is off-chain: roughly 28 million existing customers and strong retail brand equity. If it converts a meaningful share of that base into on-chain users of tokenized-asset products, it could become large without ever matching Solana on DeFi, because it would be competing on different ground.

Why is DEX volume a misleading metric? Because it is transient and easily inflated, Robinhood Chain’s volume was overwhelmingly memecoin trading, which arrives and leaves with attention and builds no lasting infrastructure. A 90-day gas subsidy also made transactions artificially cheap during the launch window. Value locked, which represents capital committed to the chain’s protocols, is a far better predictor of durability, and on that measure Solana leads decisively.

What is Robinhood Chain actually built for? Tokenized stocks and real-world assets. It launched as an Ethereum layer 2 with Stock Tokens as the flagship product, targeting a retail base that already trades equities on Robinhood. Its competitive advantage is brokerage licenses, custody relationships, and regulatory infrastructure. The memecoin activity that drove its early volume is not the use case it was designed for, and only about $12.8 million in real-world assets currently sit on it.

What happened with CASHCAT and the memecoins? CASHCAT, a token named after Robinhood’s original working name, surged to a roughly $156 million market cap and at one point generated about 17% of the chain’s daily DEX volume. It spawned a wave of Robinhood-themed tokens. The launchpad driving the boom, Noxa, earned around $12 million in fees, then went dark within 11 days, and CASHCAT fell more than 33% in a day, illustrating how quickly memecoin activity can leave.

Does Robinhood’s user base guarantee success? No. Roughly 28 million customers is a distribution advantage, but distribution is potential, not conversion. There is no evidence yet that Robinhood’s retail stock traders will become active on-chain users, or that the memecoin traders currently driving activity overlap with the tokenized-asset investors the chain targets. Converting existing customers into on-chain users is the unproven step the entire strategy depends on.

When will we know if the strategy is working? Watch the tokenized real-world asset figure on the chain, currently around $12.8 million, rather than DEX volume or the gap to Solana. If real assets grow substantially while memecoin activity fades, the traffic is converting, and the strategy is working. Robinhood’s second-quarter earnings on July 29 should offer the first real look at Stock Token adoption, and liquidity behavior after the gas subsidy expires will be the next test.

Disclaimer: This article is for information and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. It compares blockchain networks and company strategies, not the merits of any token. Memecoins are highly speculative, and most participants lose money. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy any asset or use any platform. Always do your own research. On-chain figures move quickly and are accurate as of July 17, 2026.

Pump.fun has transferred 81,712 SOL to Kraken, adding fresh pressure to the Solana market at a time when memecoin trading activity has cooled from earlier highs.

The transfer, worth roughly $6.15 million based on the available on-chain data, came from the Pump.fun fee account and was visible on Solscan. On-chain analyst EmberCN has also tracked broader Pump.fun selling, with cumulative converted SOL reportedly reaching 4.81 million tokens.

That makes this more than a routine wallet movement.

Pump.fun has been one of the most important fee-generating platforms in the Solana ecosystem, largely because of the memecoin launch cycle. When a platform like that moves SOL to an exchange, traders naturally ask whether it represents selling pressure, treasury management, or a broader sign that memecoin momentum is slowing.

Reference: Solscan

TL;DR Pump.fun transferred 81,712 SOL to Kraken. The movement was traced from the platform’s fee account on Solscan. The transfer comes as Solana memecoin trading activity cools, raising questions about selling pressure. Why This Transfer Matters Not every exchange transfer is a confirmed sale, but large movements to centralized exchanges usually get traders’ attention.

When funds move from an ecosystem-linked wallet to an exchange like Kraken, the market often reads it as potential supply. The funds may be sold, rebalanced, held for liquidity, or moved for operational reasons. But because exchanges are where tokens can be sold quickly, the transfer becomes part of the price conversation.

That is especially true for Solana.

SOL has been one of the strongest ecosystem assets of the cycle, helped by low fees, fast settlement, meme-token activity, and retail-friendly apps. Pump.fun has sat right inside that story. Its role in launching memecoins made it one of the clearest examples of how speculative activity can drive real on-chain revenue.

So when the platform’s fee account moves a large SOL balance, traders watch.

The 81,712 SOL transfer is not large enough by itself to define Solana’s trend, but it lands in a sensitive part of the market. Memecoin volume has cooled, SOL has been testing important levels, and traders are already looking for signs of whether ecosystem demand is weakening.

Pump.fun Shows The Strength And Risk Of Solana’s Retail Cycle Pump.fun became important because it captured the simplest version of Solana’s appeal: low-cost, fast, high-volume experimentation.

Anyone could launch a token. Traders could rotate quickly. The platform generated fees as speculative demand surged. That activity helped Solana stand out from slower or more expensive networks.

But the same model also creates cyclical pressure.

When memecoin demand is strong, platforms like Pump.fun can generate huge activity and accumulate significant SOL-denominated revenue. When the cycle cools, those accumulated tokens can become a source of selling pressure if they are moved to exchanges and converted.

That does not mean Pump.fun is doing anything unusual. Platforms need to manage treasuries, expenses, and liquidity. The market reaction comes from timing and visibility.

On-chain transparency makes the movement impossible to ignore.

What It Means For SOL For SOL traders, the key issue is whether this transfer becomes part of a larger pattern.

A single transfer can be absorbed if market demand is strong. But repeated exchange deposits from ecosystem fee accounts can weigh on sentiment, especially when trading volumes are already cooling.

That is why EmberCN’s broader tracking matters. If Pump.fun has converted millions of SOL over time, traders may start treating the platform as a recurring source of supply. That does not erase Solana’s ecosystem strength, but it complicates the short-term market picture.

Solana bulls will argue that the network remains active, widely used, and central to retail crypto trading. That is fair. A cooling memecoin cycle does not mean the chain has failed. It may simply mean speculative activity is normalising after an intense period.

Bears will focus on the exchange flows. If one of the largest Solana fee engines is moving tokens to Kraken while memecoin activity slows, they may see that as confirmation that the easiest part of the cycle has passed.

The truth is probably somewhere between those views.

Solana remains one of the most important networks in crypto, but the market is becoming more selective. It wants to know which activity is durable and which activity was mostly speculative heat.

Pump.fun’s transfer gives traders another data point in that debate. The next signal will come from whether SOL can absorb the flow without losing support, and whether memecoin activity stabilises or continues to fade.

This article is based on Solscan data and on-chain tracking from EmberCN.

This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.

The U.S. cryptocurrency industry is entering what one of its leading lobbyists describes as a decisive moment. 

During her Friday appearance on Fox Business, Kristin Smith, president of Solana Policy Institute, said the coming days could determine whether the industry finally secures a comprehensive federal regulatory framework after years of uncertainty.

"We've come so far with this legislation since the House passed the Clarity Act a year ago," Smith said. "There has been a lot of bipartisan input into this bill, and it is the best, most comprehensive language we've seen."

HOT Stories

However, despite her optimism, betting markets have become increasingly skeptical that the legislation will cross the finish line this year.

Ethics negotiations become central obstacleEthics negotiations have stalled the passage of the much-talked-about bill, and Smith claims that the crypto industry itself cannot dictate the outcome.

"It is absolutely essential," she said. "It's one of those tricky issues where it's not the crypto industry's place to decide what the deal is."

According to Smith, discussions with Democratic lawmakers have made it clear that they will insist on the addition of "ethics language."

You Might Also Like

"I have met with members of Congress, especially Democrats. They need to have some sort of ethics language to be able to vote for it," she said. 

The proposed provisions would establish conflict-of-interest rules governing elected officials' involvement with crypto businesses.

Smith believes a compromise remains achievable. "This is a president who knows the art of the deal. If we get the president and the Democrats to agree on this issue, that will break the logjam, and we will be able to get the votes needed to get this through the Senate sometime next week or the following," she added. 

The most significant crypto legislation Smith described the legislation as the most significant crypto reform effort to date. If enacted, Smith argues, the legislation would dramatically improve investor protections while accelerating institutional adoption.

"Once we get this passed, we are going to see an unleashing of economic activity around the crypto space," she said.

She predicted the bill would lead to an upgrade to the financial services system, more traditional institutions adopting crypto technology and integrating it into their services.

Betting markets turn increasingly pessimisticDespite the industry's public optimism, prediction markets have actually become more pessimistic. 

According to Kalshi, the probability that U.S. crypto market structure legislation becomes law before Jan. 1, 2027, has fallen to roughly 36%. 

There is still some hope. The House Financial Services Committee will hold an informational field hearing in New York examining how the Clarity Act could foster innovation. Updated legislative text remains rather elusive so far, according to recent reports. 

Across Protocol, one of the largest cross-chain bridge platforms in crypto, confirmed on July 17 that its Solana bridge deployment was hit by an attack. The good news: user funds appear untouched. The less good news: it’s another reminder that bridges remain crypto’s favorite punching bag for exploiters.

The incident was detected at approximately 5:30 AM UTC, and the team moved quickly to disable Solana deposits as a precautionary measure. All transactions completed before the attack were secured, and the protocol continues to function normally on other supported chains like Ethereum and Base.

What happened and who’s exposed Here’s the thing about this attack: the potential losses appear limited to a very specific bucket. Only funds associated with the relayer operated by Risk Labs, the foundation that supports Across Protocol, are considered at risk. That’s an important distinction. In the world of bridge exploits, where users often wake up to find their deposits evaporated, this outcome is about as contained as it gets.

Advertisement

Across uses what’s called an intent-based architecture. Think of it like placing an order at a restaurant: you state what you want (move tokens from Chain A to Chain B), and a relayer fills that order using their own capital, getting reimbursed later. The relayer takes on the risk, not the user. In this case, Risk Labs was operating that relayer on the Solana side, which is why their funds, not users’ funds, are the ones in the crosshairs.

The protocol employs an optimistic verification model powered by the UMA oracle. Transactions are assumed valid unless someone challenges them within a dispute window.

Across has stated that a full post-mortem analysis will be published in the coming days. The team is also working with SEAL_911, a well-known crypto security response group, to monitor addresses linked to the attack.

A $35 billion track record, now with an asterisk Before this incident, Across Protocol had processed over $35 billion in transaction volume without a single exploit. Its intent-based model was specifically designed to reduce the attack surface by keeping user funds out of vulnerable smart contract pools. That design philosophy appears to have held up here: users weren’t exposed.

What this means for investors If you had funds moving through Across’s Solana bridge, they appear safe. If you’re planning to bridge assets to or from Solana via Across, you’ll need to wait. Deposits on that chain are disabled until further notice.

The bigger question is what the post-mortem reveals. Was this a smart contract vulnerability specific to the Solana deployment? A relayer configuration issue? Something in how the UMA oracle interacted with Solana’s architecture? The answer matters, because it determines whether this was a one-off implementation bug or something that could theoretically affect other chains in the Across ecosystem.

Traders and liquidity providers who interact with Across on other chains should monitor the post-mortem closely. If the vulnerability turns out to be Solana-specific, operations on Ethereum, Base, and other supported networks should remain unaffected. But if the root cause touches shared infrastructure, the calculus changes fast.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

Solana Foundation and Google Cloud are teaming up for a hackathon in Korea focused on building AI agents that can make autonomous payments. The collaboration sits at the intersection of AI and stablecoins, backed by enterprise infrastructure from both organizations.

The event builds on an increasingly tight relationship between the two organizations, one that recently produced Pay.sh, an API proxy designed to let AI agents autonomously pay for Google Cloud services using stablecoin micropayments on the Solana blockchain.

What Pay.sh actually does Pay.sh sits between AI agents and Google Cloud’s suite of services, including Gemini, BigQuery, and Cloud Run, letting those agents discover, authenticate, and transact for API access without a human ever stepping in.

In English: an AI agent needs to run a query on BigQuery. Instead of requiring someone to log in, enter a credit card, and approve the charge, Pay.sh lets the agent pay for exactly what it uses with USDC on Solana. Pay as you go, no human middleman required.

Advertisement

The system leverages Solana’s high throughput and low transaction costs, which makes micropayments economically viable in a way they simply aren’t on slower, more expensive chains. A fraction-of-a-cent payment for a single API call doesn’t work if the transaction fee costs more than the service itself.

The hackathon ecosystem The Korean hackathon carries the theme “Build the Future of Agentic Commerce,” and it’s part of a broader push by both organizations to seed developer interest in autonomous agent infrastructure.

It’s not the first time Solana has targeted Korea specifically. In April 2025, Solana Super Team Korea collaborated with Google Cloud for the Seoul Lana Hackathon, establishing a regional footprint that this latest event builds upon.

Running in parallel is the Solana X402 Hackathon, a remote event scheduled from October 28 to November 11, 2025, with a prize pool of $135,000. Participants can earn up to $20,000 per track for projects that support x402 integrations, which is the payment protocol underpinning how agents discover and pay for services autonomously.

Previous Solana hackathons have featured tracks for DeFi agents and token tooling, with total prizes exceeding $250,000 across events.

Why this matters for the stablecoin economy The real story isn’t the hackathon itself. It’s what the hackathon is designed to produce: a developer ecosystem around machine-to-machine stablecoin payments.

If AI agents start autonomously consuming cloud services and paying in USDC on Solana, that’s a new source of persistent, programmatic stablecoin velocity. Not speculative trading volume, not one-off remittances, but ongoing commercial activity baked into software architectures.

Solana is positioning itself as the default settlement layer for this economy. Sub-second finality and transaction costs measured in fractions of a penny make it practical for the kind of micropayments that agent commerce requires.

The Google Cloud partnership adds enterprise legitimacy. When a company that controls roughly a third of the global cloud infrastructure market co-signs your payment protocol, it sends a signal to CTOs and procurement teams that this isn’t a science experiment.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

A tokenized stock on Solana outtraded its own Nasdaq listing on a Sunday, adding to Solana's growing dominance in tokenized real-world assets.

Even when Wall Street shuts its doors for the weekend, trading on Solana carries on without interruption. A recent case involving RoboStrategy shows just how significant that difference can be.

RoboStrategy (Nasdaq: BOT), a closed-end fund focused on private robotics and physical AI companies, recorded more trading volume on Solana on a Sunday than it did on the Nasdaq the following business day, according to data shared by Solana on X.

A Sunday that outpaced a MondayBOT is ordinarily a Nasdaq-listed stock, which means it only trades during standard U.S. market hours from Monday through Friday.

However, a tokenized version of the stock also trades on Solana, a blockchain network designed for fast and low-cost transactions that continues operating around the clock, including weekends.

On Sunday, July 12, the tokenized version of BOT recorded $12.86 million in trading volume on Solana. The following day, with Nasdaq open for regular trading, BOT did $9.8 million in volume. In other words, the onchain version of the stock moved more money on a day when traditional markets were closed than the actual stock did during a full trading session.

Solana's post also noted that 68.5% of that Sunday volume came from registered Frontier Traders, suggesting the activity reflected a genuinely engaged base of users rather than a brief, isolated spike.

The timing is worth noting as well. RoboStrategy had recently completed a series of private share issuances between July 7 and July 14, raising approximately $16 million at an average price of $35.50 per share. It remains unclear whether that capital raise directly contributed to the weekend's trading activity, though the overlap in timing stands out.

Trending on TheStreet Roundtable:Mysterious trader buys millions ahead of Trump's White House meetingSpaceX stock hits an all-time low below IPO price, what it means for its 18,712 BTCGoogle searches for XRP sink amid 60% price crash in a yearScroll to Continue

Recommended Articles

Solana's expanding role in tokenized stocksThis is far from an isolated example. Solana has steadily built a lead in the broader market for tokenized real-world assets.

According to data from rwa.xyz, Solana now counts 301,074 holders of tokenized real-world assets, the highest of any blockchain by that measure, ahead of Plume's 247,755, Ethereum's 200,860, and BNB Chain's 118,840 holders.

The network currently holds approximately $3.01 billion in tokenized assets spanning 2,121 different asset types, having briefly touched an all-time high of $3.62 billion earlier this month.

By total value, Solana ranks third among all networks, behind Ethereum and BNB Chain, though it leads decisively when measured by the number of individual holders.

Tokenized equities in particular have driven much of that growth. Solana recorded $3.47 billion in tokenized equity trading volume in June, a new monthly record, and accounted for more than 96% of all tokenized equity trading volume across every blockchain that month, according to data from Blockworks. 

That figure suggests Solana is not simply hosting these tokenized assets, but has become the primary venue where the actual trading takes place.

Robinhood joins the lineupSolana's collection of tokenized stocks grew further on July 16, when the network announced that HOODx, a tokenized version of Robinhood Markets (Nasdaq: HOOD) stock, had gone live.

Robinhood is a commission-free trading platform widely used by retail investors to buy stocks, options, and crypto. HOODx is issued by Backpack Securities, a regulated entity that tokenizes real-world stocks, and is made accessible through Sunrise, Solana's dedicated gateway for bringing external, real-world assets onto the network.

In practice, this means investors can now buy and sell a tokenized version of Robinhood's own stock on Jupiter, one of Solana's largest decentralized exchanges, the same platform many traders use to buy and sell meme coins.

Crypto Briefing approved image library

ETRADE, a subsidiary of Morgan Stanley, has completed its rollout of spot services for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, enabling eligible clients to buy, sell, and hold these cryptocurrencies directly within their brokerage accounts. The service, which comes with a transaction fee of 50 basis points, marks a significant integration of traditional finance with the crypto market. This offering positions ETRADE competitively against other major platforms like Charles Schwab and Coinbase, which have higher fees. While the platform currently does not support transfers to external wallets, such functionality is expected to be added later this year.

Market participants appear to have responded positively to this development, particularly regarding the potential impact on Solana. The move may indicate increased demand and activity, contributing to market expectations of Solana’s price movement. Notably, this development coincides with a broader trend of traditional financial institutions embracing cryptocurrencies, potentially sparking a competitive environment around retail crypto fees.

Advertisement

The introduction of spot access for these cryptocurrencies by a major financial institution like Morgan Stanley’s E*TRADE suggests increased mainstream acceptance and integration of digital assets. The market’s reaction appears consistent with scenarios where Solana could see heightened demand and volume.

Key Takeaways E*TRADE’s rollout of spot access for cryptocurrencies appears consistent with increased mainstream acceptance of digital assets. Market pricing suggests participants view this as supportive of increased Solana demand, potentially impacting its price. The competitive fee structure could lead to a broader retail crypto fee competition among traditional financial platforms. What to Watch Watch for potential announcements regarding the implementation of external wallet transfers, which could further influence market dynamics. Additionally, observe any strategic responses from competitors like Charles Schwab and Coinbase that may impact fee structures and market share. Solana’s price movements in the coming weeks will provide further insight into the market’s reaction to this integration, particularly if demand and volume increase as expected.

Get live prediction-market analysis, powered by Vera. Sign up for Vera.

Term Structure

Contract Odds Δ since publish Volume 24h August 1 2026 11.5% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.4% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.1% — — View market → August 1 2026 1.4% — — View market → August 1 2026 1% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.9% — — View market → August 1 2026 3.8% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.5% — — View market → August 1 2026 8.5% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.1% — — View market → August 1 2026 1.2% — — View market → August 1 2026 0.1% — — View market → August 1 2026 40.5% — — View market →

Solana has become the No. 1 blockchain by RWA holders after the network surpassed 300,000 RWA holders for the first time.

Data from rwa.xyz shows Solana now has 300,130 RWA holders, a new all-time high that puts the network ahead of other major blockchain ecosystems by holder count. The milestone adds to a string of records for Solana's growing tokenized asset market in 2026.

Solana's RWA Market Holds Above $3 Billion The total value of distributed real-world assets on Solana currently stands at approximately $3.32 billion. At the start of July, the ecosystem reached another milestone when its total RWA value briefly rose to an all-time high of $3.62 billion.

Solana now hosts more than 2,120 different kinds of RWAs, highlighting the expanding range of tokenized products available on the network.

Stablecoins still account for the largest share of tokenized asset value. However, tokenized equities, private credit products and other institutional assets continue to gain traction as issuers and financial platforms expand their onchain offerings.

The growth in the number of holders suggests the expansion has also begun to reach a broader user base. Solana now leads Plume, Ethereum, and BNB Chain by the number of RWA holders, and is now gradually closing the gap to Ethereum in terms of total RWA market value.

Tokenized Equity Trading Hits $3.47 Billion Record Tokenized equities have emerged as one of the fastest-growing parts of Solana's RWA ecosystem. Solana recorded $3.47 billion in tokenized equity spot trading volume in June 2026, marking a new monthly all-time high. The network also captured more than 96% of tokenized equity trading volume across blockchains during the month.

June's volume represented a sharp acceleration from previous months, and the figures show that Solana's RWA growth now extends beyond assets simply existing onchain. Traders are increasingly using the network as a venue for secondary market activity in tokenized stocks.

Wall Street Pushes Tokenization Solana's latest records come as traditional financial institutions accelerate their own tokenization efforts. Earlier today, July 15, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation successfully converted securities held at the Depository Trust Company into tokens and used them in real production trades. More than 30 traditional and digital market firms participated in the initiative, which DTCC described as its largest tokenization production effort by use cases, asset classes, and participants.

The tests covered collateral pledges, securities lending, U.S. Treasury and repo delivery-versus-payment trades, equity trades, token transfers and central counterparty margin workflows. Participants included BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Nasdaq, the New York Stock Exchange, Circle, Chainlink, Ondo Finance, Vanguard and several other major financial and digital asset firms.

DTCC plans to launch its Tokenization Service in October 2026. The service will allow DTC participants to create tokenized representations, or digital twins, of securities held at DTC and deliver them to approved wallets. Participants can also convert assets between traditional and tokenized forms.

A similar two-way mechanism is already live on Solana through some tokenized stock products offered by Backpack. Holders can redeem tokenized stocks for the underlying shares and transfer those shares to traditional brokerage accounts. Eligible shares can also move in the opposite direction, allowing investors to convert conventional securities into tokenized shares on Solana.

The mechanism also accounts for dividends and corporate actions. Traditional brokerage infrastructure processes these events for securities held through Backpack Securities, while tokenized stockholders receive equivalent economic treatment through onchain mechanisms.

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky recently argued that something meaningful is emerging beneath the noise around RWAs, saying, “Most people won’t notice the plumbing change underneath. They’ll just wake up one day and owning anything, anywhere, will feel obvious.”

Chesky’s comments reflect a broader shift in how major figures in the technology and financial industries view tokenization. Rather than treating RWAs solely as a crypto trend, more established players are exploring how blockchain infrastructure could change the way people issue, hold, and transfer ownership of real-world assets.

Read More on SolanaFloor Claynosaurz Lands on Amazon Prime Video as Solana NFT Brand Goes Mainstream
Pump.fun Faces $121M Token Unlock as Robinhood Takes Memecoin Market Share

Wen $PUMP Airdrop?