Key Takeaways
- Anatoly Yakovenko founded Solana Labs in 2018.
- Yakovenko’s wealth has grown thanks to his stake in Solana Labs and a large stash of SOL.
- The approval of spot SOL ETFs could push the cryptocurrency’s price higher.
The creator of the largest cryptocurrencies in the world, with a $130 billion market cap, Solana founder Anatoly Yakovenko is one of the richest men in crypto.
With an expected ETF approval on the horizon, the price of SOL has climbed significantly since April. As it approaches a new all-time high, Yakovenko’s wealth has also come under the spotlight.
How a Former Qualcomm Engineer Built Solana
Yakovenko’s route into crypto didn’t follow the traditional path.
Prior to founding Solana, he spent more than 12 years working for the chip designer Qualcomm, where he worked various software- and infrastructure-focused engineering roles.
In 2018, he founded Solana Labs with Raj Gokal and Greg Fitzgerald. The three men shared a vision for a more efficient blockchain platform that could replicate Ethereum’s smart contract special sauce, without its performance limitations.
They published a whitepaper, raised venture capital funding, spun up a validator network, and in 2020, launched the Solana mainnet and initial coin offering.
Yakovenko’s Wealth Sources
While estimating his exact net worth is difficult, much of Yakovenko’s wealth is likely to be tied up in SOL and whatever equity he retains in Solana Labs.
A wallet frequently associated with the Solana founder (but never confirmed) currently holds more than 136,000 SOL, equivalent to 0.02512% of the total circulating supply as of Sept. 19. In dollar terms, Yakovenko’s SOL stash is worth nearly $33 million.
For its Series A funding round in 2020, the company raised $20 million from investors, but no post-money valuation was disclosed. It also raised $314 million in a 2021 private token sale led by Andreessen Horowitz and Polychain Capital.
However, as a private company, Solana Labs does not publicly disclose details of its ownership.
Based on industry standards, a conservative estimate of Yakovenko’s equity would be 1-5%. If he retained a much larger founder share, 10-25% may be realistic.
Yakovenko is also an active angel investor and has participated in early fundraising rounds for various startups both inside and outside of the Solana ecosystem.
Companies he has backed include Ellipsis Labs, Blockcast, Fuse Energy, and Infinex.
SOL Primed for Capital Influx Ahead of ETF Deadline
Since the first U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs hit the market in 2024, giant funds managed by BlackRock, Fidelity, and others have hoovered up more than $100 billion worth of BTC.
The largest, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), now holds 3.643% of the maximum Bitcoin supply. Collectively, ETFs hold 6.274% of the supply, making them a powerful force shaping the market
As the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) prepares to approve the first altcoin ETFs, funds holding assets like SOL could soon become just as influential in their respective ecosystems.
The regulator approved a mixed spot SOL and derivatives fund in July. But 100% spot funds, which track the underlying assets’ price more efficiently, have not yet been approved.
Final decisions on applications by VanEck, 21Shares, BitWise, and Canary were originally expected in early August. However, the SEC pushed those deadlines back to Oct. 16. Applications by Franklin Templeton, Fidelity, and Invesco have also been delayed.
Anatoly Yakovenko in His Own Words
- “[Solana’s] slide deck, the seed-level slide deck literally said blockchain at Nasdaq speed. That was the tagline.”
- “Crypto markets have matured enough to recognize the value in smart contract platforms and that value isn’t just in the processing or the data, it’s in the ecosystem.”
- “Where crypto solves a problem for consumers is clearly in cross border payments, remittances.”
James Morales is CCN’s blockchain and crypto policy reporter. He has been working in the news media since 2020, writing about topics such as payments, banking and financial technology. These days, he likes to explore the latest blockchain innovations and the evolving landscape of global crypto regulation.
With an educational background in social anthropology and media studies, James uses his platform as a journalist to explore how new technologies work, why they matter and how they might shape our future.
