Solana OG Builders: Next Chapter Is Bigger Than Meme Coins

Is Solana “moving” from Solana meme coins? Leaders from major Solana protocols argued at Consensus Hong Kong 2026 on Thursday that the network’s next phase will prioritise scaling global finance over speculative memes. The panel emphasized that the ecosystem has moved beyond survival mode following the 2022 FTX collapse, focusing on application-layer utility.

Why change to a more “serious” approach? The network’s reputation was previously tied to volatile meme coin trading and its connection to Sam Bankman-Fried’s defunct exchange. While meme coins and Pump.Fun made the success of Solana in the past years, now it seems the focus is on moving on to developing infrastructure to support traditional financial systems. More reliable and stable than meme coins.

With stablecoin supply on the network exceeding $15.5 billion, the narrative is shifting from hype around fast meme coins to a practical payment rail utility.

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Strengthening the Application Layer Through Infrastructure

Speaking directly to the shift in priorities, Armani Ferrante, founder of Backpack Exchange, described the FTX collapse as a “brutal” clearing event that ultimately strengthened the developer base.

The single most important thing happening right now across any blockchain is all of finance coming onchain,

Ferrante stated, noting that current crypto markets remain a fraction of global liquidity. “We have a proof of concept. That’s it.”

Austin Federa, co-founder of DoubleZero, highlighted that while capital fled during the crisis, “Solana lost no technical teams,” proving that the developer ecosystem operates independently of price action. This focus on utility is already manifesting in capital flows. Recently, significant institutional players have deepened their involvement, as seen when Jupiter announced a strategic investment deal to settle in JupUSD.

Ecosystem tokens like Jito and Jupiter are now moving at speeds distinct from the broader market, driven by this specific utility.

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The transition from “ETH killer” narratives and meme coins hype to a general-purpose execution layer requires constant vigilance. Federa warned that feeling “comfortable” in blockchain is a precursor to being overtaken by competitors. Upcoming network upgrades aim to further reduce latency, essential for the high-frequency demands of real-world asset (RWA) tokenization and institutional trading.

Solana Price Analysis Source: TradingView

SOL $84.69

24h volatility: 1.7%

Market cap: $48.14 B

Vol. 24h: $3.42 B

Despite the precarious short-term price action, analysts project SOL could trade between 128 and 178 USD by the end of 2026 as DeFi scale increases. With projects like Kamino and Jito creating foundational liquidity layers, the ecosystem is positioning itself to capture institutional volume that demands reliability over hype.

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