Welcome to Fintech TV. As digital assets mature, from speculative trading to always on financial and fraud, the battle for institutional adoption is heating up among major blockchains. The salon is ramping up its global expansion efforts, recently tapping Rachel Conlan as its new strategy chief strategy officer.
Joining us now to discuss her roadmap and the ongoing migration of real world assets on chain is Rachel Conlon, who is chief strategy officer at the Solana Foundation. Hi. Great to have you here. Thank you so much for joining us today. Good morning.
Thank you. And thank you for having me.
Well, congratulations on your appointment. So first and foremost, why the Solana Foundation?
Well, look, I've spent the last six years very close to what is the evolution of blockchain and obviously seen us and seen a huge acceleration and a deeper understanding of what is the space and what the opportunity is. And as we see more assets moving on chain, whether that be, you know, stablecoins to tokenize assets to credit funds.
And I think that on chain activity has shown that we're moving from this period of what was curiosity and interest to real life implementation. And as I look at Solana, you know, from the ecosystem, not just from the developers, but from the broad range of projects and from the opportunity and that center, um, that centerpiece that it occupies, it was at that juncture of really being, um, part of what is this next stage of the total reimagination and rebuilding of financial infrastructure.
And for me, coming from where I was, which I believe trading was that gateway. And now we're in that page of in that stage of us becoming part of the technology layer of what is the future of finance. And it was fascinating just to be able to be close to what is that momentum?
Yeah. And I do want to get your perspective when it comes to that actual momentum. Because when we're talking about the world of DeFi, one year can seem like a very long time, especially given where we are right now. So as you begin your journey with the Solana Foundation, give us your perspective on your top areas of focus as well as your priorities.
I really think there's three kind of key priorities in the near term that I'm going to be focused on, and that the primary priority is really on how we tell the bigger narrative and through the lens of all the proof points. You know, once you look under the hood, you know, Solana is known to many as one chain.
But once you look under the hood and you understand just the volume of different activity and not just on changes, it's more than just announcements, the proof points that exist. So it's how we use the collection of proof points to connect them to the bigger narrative. And, you know, secondly, and you know, you talk about this every day, the institutional adoption and enterprise adoption is happening at a pace of change that's unprecedented.
I don't think any of us expected, you know, five years ago. Let alone six months ago. And I think there's a huge opportunity to connect that more deeply and ensure that we're celebrating, accelerating it even more. You know, there still is a lack of understanding, and we need to educate more to ensure that we're moving to implementation and constant innovation.
And I think the third part is, given my background, you know, coming from marketing is really connecting strategy, marketing, communications, events, partnerships, understanding where we really amplify that and tell the bigger story. You know, Solana is decentralized and that is the beauty of it.
And but we still play this essential role in being able to educate and amplify and advance the industry more.
Yeah. And Rachel Solana has been championing the concept of the token supercycle. So for our viewers out there, explain why solar.
Look, I think that the idea and the concept of the token supercycle which we're in now. This is not a theme or a feature facing kind of Metatron. This is what we're in at the moment. Is this idea that or value is becoming digital native? And so, you know, I think where we are at the moment is, you know, we've seen an incredible explosion of stablecoins, of currencies, but of, you know, real world tokenized assets.
We're seeing credit funds, equities come and chain. So this isn't just about looking at it through the lens of like 24/7 access to capital markets. This is an entire reworking of what is the financial infrastructure. And, you know, even going as far as the authentic payments and the role that the blockchain plays in that is the supporting role.
So for me, um, you know, the token supercycle is what we're living in at the moment. It's what we all hoped, you know, we would get to. And it's that pieces of, you know, the entire financial value chain is being remodeled and and you know, I'm excited to see how that takes shape in the form of actual proof points and concepts that we're seeing come to market.
Yeah. And speaking of the super cycle, I understand that is the central theme for the upcoming brief point, which is taking place in London. So can you give us a preview of what we can expect?
Look, I think the Breakpoint events that will be taking place in London this November 15th to 17th is really this thesis coming to life. And while this has been an event that has run for over five years, it's gone everywhere from Lisbon to Singapore to my hometown and Abu Dhabi and has traditionally been like a meeting of the developer ecosystem.
It's really becoming so much more now. It's a forum for traditional finance, for fintech, for payments enterprise companies and for businesses to come together and really understand what is the opportunity now and what is next. And we're not going to be just talking about what is the potential and what is being built.
In the next five years, we're going to be walking through what are actual proof points in case studies today that we're seeing built. So we're expecting over 8000 people and a phenomenal lineup of people over the course of that week in London. And brilliant to be able to, you know, bringing our what is modern finance back to what is one of the leading capital markets.
And finally, Rachel, before I let you go, we are here at the New York Stock Exchange. In 2026 has been the year of institutional adoption. That is something that both Wall Street and Main Street have been paying attention to. So how are you shifting the narrative?
Yeah, I think what we've seen is unparalleled growth in both enterprise and institutional adoption over the last year. And the metrics, you know, speak for itself. And, you know, just a couple before I go into how we're doing that, we have, you know, over 465 trillion worth of stablecoin activity on the chain, and we have over 460 60 million in tokenized assets on the chain.
And we're only seeing that proliferation and the activity increase. And what we're very lucky, as Solana is seeing the businesses that are choosing to, you know, transform what is their technology and built with us. And, you know, we have some of the oldest remittances companies from Western Union to Moneygram choosing us and to build on to ensure that they are supporting what is the next generation, um, you know, consumer experience.
And I think being able to tell those stories more broadly, um, is a key part of how we will continue to accelerate and push that momentum.
Well, Rachel, thank you so much for joining us here today at the New York Stock Exchange. I appreciate your time, and I wish you much luck as you continue with your endeavors in your new role.
Thank you so.
Much. My pleasure.
