Solana could mirror the growth of Bitcoin and Ethereum if current market conditions hold. This view comes from Matt Hougan, chief investment officer at Bitwise, who points to the dynamics of fund inflows and corporate token purchases. Market participants are already filing applications for spot ETFs and creating new treasury companies focused on acquiring SOL.
Betting on a Repeat of BTC and ETH
According to Hougan, current conditions resemble the early growth phases of Bitcoin and Ethereum. From January 2024 to August 2025, BTC rose from $40,000 to nearly $125,000, while Ethereum tripled in price from April 2025, reaching almost $5,000 in August. During this time, the Bitcoin network produced 322,681 BTC, while ETP products and corporate investors acquired more than 1.1 million BTC. Similarly, the Ethereum network issued 388,568 ETH, while purchases totaled 7.4 million ETH.
Hougan calls this the classic supply and demand effect: when demand exceeds issuance, price rises.
Spot ETF Applications and the First SOL Fund in the US
Several applications for spot ETFs based on Solana have been filed in the US. Applicants include Grayscale, VanEck, Franklin Templeton, Fidelity, Invesco/Galaxy, Canary Capital, and Bitwise. The SEC must decide on these applications by October 10.
Meanwhile, the REX-Osprey fund has already launched the first US ETF with exposure to SOL under the 1940 Act, which allows for staking rewards. Although not structured as a standard ETF under the 1933 Act, the fund holds SOL directly (at least 50%) and partially through other staking instruments.
Since its July launch, the fund has attracted $195.1 million, far below comparable Bitcoin and Ethereum funds at $5.8 billion and $8.4 billion respectively.
New $1.65 Billion Crypto Treasury
Additional interest in Solana comes from the launch of Forward Industries, a public company focused on buying and staking SOL. Galaxy Digital, Jump Crypto, and Multicoin Capital have committed $1.65 billion to the initiative. Forward appointed Multicoin co-founder Kyle Samani as chairman of the board, comparing his role to figures like Michael Saylor and Tom Lee.
Other SOL holders include DeFi Development Corp., Sol Strategies, and Upexi.
Risks and Advantages of Solana
Hougan also acknowledges that inflows alone are not enough to drive price growth – investors need reasons to buy the asset. In Ethereum’s case, the key driver was the rise of stablecoins.
Bitwise believes Solana has the potential to lead in infrastructure for stablecoins, tokenized assets, and DeFi. The network processes transactions in milliseconds with fees under one cent and does not require Layer-2 solutions like Ethereum.
Solana also ranks third in stablecoin liquidity and fourth in tokenized assets, showing 140% growth in tokenized asset volume since the beginning of the year.
Low Market Cap Amplifies Impact
According to Hougan, despite its potential, Solana remains relatively small. Coinmarketcap data shows its market capitalization at $121.85 billion – just 5% of Bitcoin’s $2.2 trillion and 23% of Ethereum’s $522.6 billion.
This means, he argues, that investments in SOL can have a larger price impact. For example, a planned $1.65 billion purchase of SOL would be equivalent, on a relative scale, to a $33 billion Bitcoin acquisition. The effect, however, may be offset by Solana’s annual inflation rate of 4,3%, compared to 0,8% for BTC and 0,5% for ETH.
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