Solana Leaders Weigh in on Metas to Watch in 2025

Which sectors do some of Solana’s brightest minds expect to shine next year?

Published: Dec 19, 2024 at 14:15

After a sensational 2024 for Solana, network participants are eager to see what 2025 will bring.

With the incoming Trump Administration abolishing regulatory headwinds, industry experts and leaders are placing their bets on which sectors will perform best in the year to come.

Will memecoins continue to dominate the limelight? Or will incoming retail users be looking for more tangible and familiar products?

Next Step: Tokenized Equities

Speaking at Multicoin Summit, Solana co-founder Raj Gokal highlighted several popular niches he expects will do well in 2025.

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Alongside autonomous AI Agents that can simplify blockchain operations and Solana’s expansive DePIN scene, Gokal is hoping to see equities find a home onchain.

“It’s time, the infrastructure is all there” - Raj Gokal, Solana Labs Co-founder

Despite widespread innovation in other areas, tokenized securities and traditional financial assets are still largely unavailable on Solana. The network’s RWA sector is still underdeveloped compared to rival chains, but that may all be about to change.

Step Finance, one of Solana’s oldest projects, has recently stepped into the RWA scene and announced the launch of Remora Markets.

For the first time in Solana history, users will be able to trade traditional assets like Tesla and Apple stocks directly onchain. Bridging the gap between TradFi and DeFi, Remora Markets allows traders to fully diversify their portfolios while keeping full custody of their assets onchain.

In time, Remora assets could also be integrated deeper into Solana’s DeFi economy. Users will likely be able to collateralize traditional assets onchain, facilitating greater control and flexibility over liquidity.

Disclaimer: SolanaFloor and Remora Markets are owned and operated by Step Finance.

Will AI Agents Remain Relevant?

While Raj Gokal hopes AI Agents could help simplify blockchain operations for new users, fellow Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko anticipates there are further breakthroughs to be made in this meta.

AI agents have already made remarkable progress in a few short months. While the arrival of the AI Agent initially resulted in a saturation of 𝕏 accounts spouting auto-generated replies, newer Agents have far greater capacities.

Agents like Griffain are demonstrating a staggering variety of use cases, from Agent creation to portfolio management and NFT generation. Griffain can even purchase luxury real-world commodities on your behalf.

Growing DeFi Popularity

While no one can predict exactly what will happen in 2025, one thing is certain: DeFi onboarding is becoming easier than ever before. The Phantom Wallet continues to rank highly in Google Play and Apple’s App Store, while tens of thousands of traders take their first steps into the onchain world.

Nansen CEO Alex Svavenik theorizes that DEX volume could surpass CEX volume in the near future, as DeFi’s accessibility and UX continues to improve. Illustrating this point, the bulk of $PENGU trading volume occurred onchain during the token’s launch earlier this week.

With a pro-crypto Administration taking up residence in the White House, 2025 is shaping up to be a great year for crypto. Solana has firmly established itself as the most accessible chain in the industry, making it a likely candidate to remain the first port of call for the crypto-curious in 2025.