Solana’s Startup Surge Reshapes Network Growth Outlook
- Solana’s surge of $100M startups shows a pivot toward commercially driven network growth.
- RWA expansion and institutional products accelerate SOL’s transition into financial use.
- TVL gains and stablecoin inflows show strengthening liquidity and ecosystem maturation.
Solana co-founder Raj Gokal told attendees at Breakpoint 2025 in Abu Dhabi that several new Solana-based startups now generate more than $100 million in annual revenue. His remarks outlined how builders increasingly prioritize commercial performance on the network. They also showed why financial activity across Solana has expanded through trading, RWAs, and lending.
Surge in Builder Activity and SOL’s Economic Profile
The comments from Gokal connected directly to Solana’s change toward a business-driven ecosystem. Anatoly Yakovenko said the network no longer operates as a niche DeFi or meme-focused chain, noting that broader use cases now move activity forward. His view introduced how developer participation and product experimentation underpin this new move.
Developer momentum supported the trend throughout 2025. Global hackathons brought thousands of teams into the ecosystem, creating a pipeline of startups now racing to reach market scale. The rise of these builders is linked with Yakovenko’s point that advances in performance, scalability, and user experience helped push the network toward higher commercial output.
Jun, co-founder of the Solana DEX Bulk, described another factor driving this shift. He said Solana offers the strongest asset inflows, community diversity, and product range, but it lacks a professional trading environment. His comments highlighted the need for low-latency, reliable risk engines and smoother user experiences to support serious market activity.
Jun noted that Bulk entered the ecosystem as market makers across various venues before moving into product development. Their early work revealed structural gaps in the trading stack. These gaps now motivate new builders to target institutional-grade trading tools, which aligns with Gokal’s broader point about commercial maturity.
Real-World Assets Expand Institutional Use
Solana’s evolution also gained momentum as real-world asset projects entered the network. According to ecosystem tracking, nearly 80 percent of recent partnerships center on RWAs. This shift connected directly with Gokal’s view that real economic activity must move on-chain for sustainable growth.
Bhutan launched tokenized gold on Solana, while Keel announced a $500 million institutional fund. Ondo Finance prepared a tokenized liquidity fund for the network. Each initiative reinforced the role of fast execution and low-cost settlement, which many institutions now evaluate for on-chain deployments.
Address data tracked similar engagement patterns. Lookonchain reported a new wallet moving 37,000 SOL from Binance. Glassnode showed more than 2 million new addresses since mid-October, bringing the total to 6.5 million.
These metrics pointed to growing interest despite broader market uncertainty. Institutional participation continued through 2025. Securitize brought products linked to BlackRock, Apollo, and VanEck onto Solana.
Ondo increased access to assets such as USDY and OUSG. Backed Finance expanded tokenized equities, including TSLAx and NVDAx. These developments are connected with Yakovenko’s point that decentralized networks could compete with traditional finance when revenue becomes stable.
Related: Solana Spot Trading Goes Live on dYdX for U.S. Users
Lending and Solana’s Financial Activity
Solana’s lending sector expanded steadily despite volatility in crypto markets. December 2025 data showed lending TVL at $4.8 billion, compared to $2.7 billion one year earlier. This growth is linked with rising stablecoin supply, which reached more than $13 billion across USDC, USDT, and PYUSD.
TVL concentration remained notable. Kamino held about $3.6 billion in deposits, while platforms such as Marginfi and Jupiter Lend supported the rest. These totals helped push Solana’s overall DeFi TVL to $8.8 billion in late 2025.
Several structural features supported lending activity. Higher throughput allowed predictable borrowing and liquidation operations. RWAs expanded collateral options, which broadened participation. Cross-chain infrastructure has matured, enabling capital to move more efficiently across networks.
Kamino Lend led the sector with roughly $3.5 billion in TVL. Its v2 upgrade introduced a permissionless market layer that allowed instant creation of isolated markets with customizable risk parameters.
It also launched a vault layer supported by groups including SteakhouseFi, Re7 Capital, MEV Capital, and Allez Labs. Integrations with Huma PST, Securitize sACRED, Hastra PRIME, and Maple further strengthened its position.
Meanwhile, Solana’s rising group of $100 million revenue startups, as noted by Raj Gokal, shows a shift toward commercially focused building. The network’s expanding RWA activity, institutional presence, and lending growth support this transition. These developments show how Solana’s performance, builder engagement, and financial tools now shape the effect stage of its ecosystem.
