Solana, co-founded by Anatoly Yakovenko, has emerged as a significant player in the cryptocurrency market, boasting an estimated annual revenue of $2.85 billion. The protocol’s success is mostly due to the growing institutional adoption of cryptocurrency, especially from traditional finance. Despite legal challenges, technical hiccups and other controversies, most recently the alleged rug-pull coin Trumpcoin, Solana is weathering the storm.
Solana’s truly open protocol creates a level playing field for developers and companies to innovate on top of its infrastructure. Yakovenko understands that his transparency cuts into his influence over the coins that are now hosted on Solana’s platform. Among those, of course, is the controversial Trumpcoin, which has been slammed for advancing public bribery. This criticism has not slowed the protocol’s momentum—in fact, this unauthorized fork has accelerated conversations around the regulatory implications of decentralized finance.
In major moves lately, Solana itself just recently released its first-ever ETF (exchange-traded fund) — a sign of maturing wealth on their financial Mount Rushmore. Yakovenko highlighted the importance of adapting to the evolving market and noted that he has experienced immense success this year, even as many other cryptocurrencies have struggled.
At a TechCrunch event held in San Francisco from October 27-29, 2025, Yakovenko expressed his views on the intersection of artificial intelligence and finance. He stated, “AI has been a great force multiplier for somebody who’s an expert,” emphasizing how technology can enhance expertise in complex fields. He elaborated on this point, remarking that “if you are a back-office finance person, you actually get crypto much much faster,” suggesting that the integration of AI tools is accelerating understanding and adoption among finance professionals.
Yakovenko’s musings on AI further hint at the personal side of his work. “Now I can just watch Claude churning through its thing and I can almost smell when it’s going off the rails,” he noted, illustrating how he leverages AI to maintain focus during meetings. This approach is a testament to his belief in the importance of using technology to foster innovation in the cryptocurrency industry.
Yakovenko is enthusiastic about the future for Solana and the overall cryptocurrency ecosystem. He understands that through this gauntlet of challenges lies the key to continued expansion and long term toleration.