Key Takeaways
- Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan is bullish on Solana.
- Hougan expects the stablecoin and tokenization market to grow tenfold or more.
- The Bitwise exec remained cautious about volatility.
Solana could capture the largest share of the rapidly growing stablecoin and tokenized asset market, surpassing Ethereum and other blockchains, according to Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan.
Talking in a thread on X, Hougan said Solana gives investors “two ways to win,” by participating in the overall expansion of blockchain-based financial infrastructure and by backing a network that is rapidly gaining market share.
A Tenfold Market Opportunity
Hougan believes the tokenization and stablecoin markets are on the verge of explosive growth.
“I have a lot of confidence that the stablecoin and tokenization infrastructure market will grow,” he said on Thursday, Oct. 10.
“I think people dramatically underestimate how much and how quickly these technologies will remake markets,” he added. “It’s easy for me to imagine this market growing by 10x or more.”
Hougan said he expects Solana to capture a growing portion of the stablecoin and tokenization infrastructure market, citing its performance, usability, and culture as core advantages.
“It offers fast, user-friendly technology, backed by a great community with a ship-fast attitude,” he said.
He acknowledged that Solana is still a newer asset compared with Ethereum, but said it is rapidly closing the gap in institutional adoption.
- Bitwise exec remains bullish on Solana | Source: X @Matt_Hougan
“It’s a newer asset and is playing catch-up against its peers in winning institutional mandates, but it’s gaining ground,” Hougan noted.
Adding: “Just this week, when Western Union announced it was building a stablecoin, it chose Solana as the underlying blockchain.”
That example, he suggested, shows how established financial players are increasingly turning to Solana for real-world use cases.
Hougan wrote that Solana’s rising share of blockchain infrastructure, combined with the expected expansion of tokenized finance, could produce what he called an “explosive” outcome for the network’s long-term value.
“If I’m right, the combination of a growing market and a growing market share will be explosive for Solana,” he said. “Just as with bitcoin.”
Two Ways To Win
Hougan compared Solana’s opportunity today to bitcoin’s rise over the past 15 years, the token which benefited both from the expansion of a new market.
“I love investments that give me two ways to win,” he wrote.
“Take bitcoin. When I invest in bitcoin, I’m betting the global ‘store of value’ market will grow, and bitcoin will take an increasing share of that market. Only one of these things needs to happen for me to do well.”
Bitcoin’s store-of-value market, Hougan noted, has ballooned tenfold in the past two decades, from under $3 trillion in 2005 to roughly $27.5 trillion today, led by gold and bitcoin itself.
“All you need for bitcoin to 10x is for that to repeat while bitcoin keeps its current market position,” he said. “Seems feasible to me.”
By extension, Hougan argues, Solana could follow a similar trajectory if blockchain infrastructure for stablecoins and tokenization grows on the same scale.
Solana’s Current Position
In the competition for blockchain dominance, Hougan highlighted that several leading networks are currently vying to provide the foundation for stablecoin and tokenization.
“The stablecoin and tokenization infrastructure market is currently served by a number of impressive Layer 1 blockchains,” he said.
- Ethereum remains the market leader | Source: X @Matt_Hougan
“Ethereum is the market leader, with the largest share of stablecoin issuance and trading volume and a leading share of fund tokenization.”
Solana, along with Tron and Binance Smart Chain, are among the leading challengers.
Together, the four networks have a combined market capitalization of about $768 billion, according to Hougan.
“Solana is $107 billion, or 14% of the combined market,” he wrote.
Crypto Remains Volatile
Despite his bullish tone, Hougan noted that crypto markets remain unpredictable.
“IMHO it pays to approach the crypto market with humility,” he wrote.
“Even the most seasoned experts don’t know exactly how things will play out,” he added .”But if you can stack the odds in your favor by getting two high-conviction bets for the price of one, it can be a nice place to be.”
Hougan’s comments come less than a month after crypto plunged in one of the biggest single-day declines of the year, wiping nearly $200 billion off total market capitalization.
On Oct. 10, Bitcoin fell more than 15% in a few hours, briefly trading near $104,000, while Solana, Ethereum and other major tokens also dropped sharply before rebounding later in the week.
Market data providers said more than $19 billion worth of leveraged positions were liquidated across exchanges within 24 hours.
Kurt Robson is a London-based reporter at CCN, specialising in the fast-moving worlds of crypto and emerging technology. He began his career covering local news in Cornwall after graduating from Falmouth University with First Class Honours in Journalism. There, he cut his teeth on everything from council meetings to missing swans.
He quickly rose through the ranks to become a frontline journalist at several of the UK’s leading national newspapers. Over the years, he has interviewed musicians and celebrities, reported from courtrooms and crime scenes, and secured multiple front-page exclusives.
Following the upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kurt shifted his focus to technology journalism—just ahead of the AI boom. With a natural curiosity and a trained eye for emerging trends, he has found a new rhythm in reporting on innovation.
At CCN, Kurt's work focuses on the cutting edge of crypto, blockchain, AI, and the evolving digital world. Drawing on his background in people-first reporting and his deep interest in disruptive tech, Kurt delivers stories that are insightful, entertaining, and human-centric.
