Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise, shared his long-term bullish perspective on Solana. According to Hougan, the Layer-1 blockchain offers investors “two ways to win,” both of which appear highly promising.
Betting on Stablecoin Growth and Tokenization
Hougan emphasized on X (formerly Twitter) that Solana is focused on two key areas: the expanding market for stablecoins and tokenized assets, and Solana’s growing share of that market.
“I like investments that give you two potential paths to profit,” Hougan wrote. He noted that many people underestimate how quickly technological innovations will transform financial markets. “I can easily see this market expanding tenfold or more,” he added.
Regarding Solana’s competitive edge versus Ethereum, Hougan highlighted its fast, user-friendly technology and a strong, proactive developer community with a “move fast” philosophy.
Ethereum Remains the Dominant Player
Ethereum still dominates the space. According to DeFiLlama, Ethereum’s stablecoin market capitalization exceeds $163 billion, with a total value locked (TVL) of over $85 billion.
Solana’s figures are smaller: stablecoin market capitalization is around $14.9 billion, and TVL exceeds $11.3 billion. Despite the large gap, Hougan considers Solana one of the top contenders for market share, alongside Tron and BNB Smart Chain.
Institutional Interest is Rising
Hougan highlighted growing institutional adoption of Solana. As an example, financial firm Western Union announced on October 28 that it would integrate Solana blockchain for stablecoin-based payment systems.
“This is a relatively new asset that is catching up with competitors in securing institutional mandates, but momentum is building,” he said.
Bitwise itself has Solana-related products, including a staking-focused ETF launched on October 28.
If Hougan’s predictions hold, the combination of a growing market and Solana’s increasing market share could become highly lucrative. “Much like Bitcoin,” he noted, drawing a parallel.
Bitcoin Has Two Ways to Win, Too
Hougan applies the same logic to Bitcoin: it benefits both from the overall growth of global savings markets and from increasing its own share. Either factor alone can generate significant gains.
“Many investors mistakenly focus too much on Bitcoin capturing market share and too little on the growth of the market itself,” Hougan explained. Over the past two decades, the global savings market has expanded tenfold, from under $3 trillion in 2005 to $27.5 trillion today.
Hougan’s investment thesis is that technological advances in finance will unfold faster than most anticipate. Solana, with its technical capabilities and active developer base, is well-positioned to be a major beneficiary of these changes.
