Original Source: Crypto Isn't for Everyone (And That's a Good Thing) with Anatoly Yakovenko
Podcast Date: July 12, 2025

Guest: Anatoly Yakovenko, Founder of Solana

Original Translation: Lenaxin, ChainCatcher

This article is compiled from a deep conversation on the More or Less podcast segment with Anatoly Yakovenko, the founder of Solana. He analyzes the industry cyclicality of "Punk, Hoodie, Suit," points out that AI is just a product while crypto is a movement, and reveals how stablecoins are quietly driving USD globalism. At the same time, he explains Solana's mission to challenge app store monopolies and proposes that the future of the crypto industry lies not in mass adoption but in serving a high-net-worth niche.

Key Insights:

AI is just a product while crypto is a movement

If Bitcoin becomes a hedge tool equivalent to gold, the crypto market can be considered victorious

Developing dedicated hardware and app stores for crypto users, charging low fees, can pave new paths in the face of tech giant monopolies

When stablecoins are backed by real assets such as government bonds, they will disrupt the traditional financial system

The current market's perception of stablecoins is both overly focused and severely underestimating their potential

Real market demand is still highly concentrated on USD stablecoins

When individuals are immersed in such information cocoons for an extended period, cognitive dissonance from reality becomes inevitable

When those who hold fast to their ideals depart, their voices also disappear

Opening Story: Anatoly's Journey and the Birth of Solana

Rosa: Could you please provide a brief overview of your background and the founding process of Solana?

Anatoly: I was born in the Soviet Union. My parents immigrated immediately after the fall of the Berlin Wall, or more precisely, after the collapse of the Soviet Union. I grew up in Chicago and moved to the United States when I was 11, right at the peak of Michael Jordan's time with the Chicago Bulls, completely immersed in that craze. I spent the entire 90s there and later went to Illinois State University to study computer science.

It was during the mobile revolution that I was working at Qualcomm from 2004 to 2015, participating in all imaginable mobile development projects and interacting with all mobile operating systems of that time.

As for the founding of Solana, the opportunity arose one day at Soleil Cafe in San Francisco after two cups of coffee and a beer, when I couldn't sleep and had a sudden revelation at 4 a.m. Six months later, I pitched this idea to Sam Russo at the Slow Bar.

The Evolutionary Trajectory of the Crypto World: Punk, Hoodie, and Suit

Rosa: We are currently in a crucial period: significant regulatory relaxation and a surge of innovative projects. In your opinion, what is the current market situation? What are the fundamental differences compared to a year ago?

Anatoly: I observe many similarities between the crypto movement and other tech waves, such as the open-source movement. Objectively, AI is closer to specific products rather than a social movement. This development model always follows a fixed trajectory: initially pioneered by punk rebel geeks, then driven towards commercialization by hoodie entrepreneurs, and finally fully taken over by suit capital.

We are currently in a delicate transitional period where entrepreneurial hoodie teams are becoming more mature, while suit capital is just starting to explore how to incorporate this industry, attempting to transform it into a form no different from traditional industries.

Rosa: Speaking of capital inflow, hedge funds and traditional asset management firms are now issuing various crypto products. Are you suggesting that they will directly incorporate the underlying blockchain technology?

Anatoly: Stablecoins are a ready-made success case. These programmable currencies are simply perfect, especially when they are backed by real assets like government bonds, effectively overturning the traditional financial system built on fax machine technology since World War II.

Rosa: What is the actual value of stablecoins to the United States?

Anatoly: When the world craves the US dollar, if Tether or Circle becomes the standard carrier of programmable dollars, the US can only adapt accordingly. After all, the current size of the global economy has made the transition of the dollar system inevitable. While ordinary consumers will certainly not abandon credit cards, the collaboration model between Visa and banks will inevitably innovate, as they can directly rebuild the entire settlement system based on stablecoins.

Crypto Ecosystem Evolution Observation: From Store of Value to Meme Economy

Sam: Will traditional financial institutions' adoption of cryptocurrency technology follow an open transformation or a covert infiltration model?

Anatoly: The key lies in functionality implementation. If banks only allow holding Bitcoin without supporting actual usage, the situation will become nuanced. When this model scales, Bitcoin may evolve into digital gold. Although from a Securities Analysis perspective, neither Bitcoin nor gold can be valued using a discounted cash flow model.

The fundamental motivation for people holding them is fear, just like my parents fleeing the disintegrating Soviet Union with gold back in the day. Today, Bitcoin plays the same role, which may be the only reasonable explanation. If Bitcoin ever becomes a mainstream hedging tool on par with gold, then regardless of how you define success, the entire crypto market can be considered successful.

Sam: What is the fundamental difference between crypto assets and stocks/gold when traditional valuation models widely fail? Isn't gold also a millennium-old meme?

Anatoly: The difference lies in scale. When this meme of gold reaches the trillion-dollar level and forms global consensus, it reflects some essence of human civilization, as we have always been using abstract concepts to store and transfer value.

Sam: Can you compare the different value systems in the crypto field?

Anatoly: The abstract nature of Bitcoin makes it difficult to value with an engineering mindset, but Solana's positioning is very clear: it is essentially an efficient information transmission channel. When users transact tokens, they are actually broadcasting valuable information. Since the system only processes the earliest matched transactions, a natural incentive mechanism for transaction priority fees is formed. The higher the transaction volume this channel handles, the higher the revenue generated. Whether it is transmitting Bitcoin or USDC is not important; the system only processes data flow.

We are fortunate to live in an increasingly prosperous world, and as people have more disposable funds, they naturally invest in various interesting things. For example, meme coins; some find it amusing to issue a meme coin parodying Biden called "Bowdoin."

Rosa: Are all meme coins based on Solana?

Anatoly: Currently, the vast majority are. Although Ethereum has some of the highest market cap meme coins, Solana can generate 20,000 to 50,000 new meme coins daily, peaking at over 100,000 during certain periods.

Sam: Why is the meme coin ecosystem infrastructure severely lagging behind?

Anatoly: This is actually a systems engineering challenge. Whenever value allocation is involved, there will be people looking to exploit loopholes. It's like when there's a promotion for discounted phones; there will be countless virtual numbers created to take advantage of the offer.

Crypto Phone Strategy: Decoding the Platform Battle

Rosa: Why did Solana choose to enter the mobile hardware sector?

Anatoly: This stems from my professional background: I have been deeply involved in the mobile industry for over a decade, allowing me to assemble a core team. The current internet should be open and free, but users are being monetized within the "sandbox" models of companies like Apple. While these closed ecosystems have created value, they can also be suffocating.

Apple, Google, Meta—all use sandbox models to extract user value. While their products are indeed excellent (for instance, I am currently using Google's AI-powered free email), blockchain technology has the potential to break this monopoly. With assets like NFTs and meme coins having scarcity, platforms struggle to levy a 30% fee like they do on in-game items because these are not infinitely replicable virtual goods.

The scarcity of crypto assets fundamentally changes the rules. Take CryptoPunk NFTs, for instance: globally unique and cannot be endlessly replicated like in-game items. When a user spends $10,000 to purchase, the Apple Store cannot charge a 20% fee. Users won't accept it, and the issuer can't bear it.

This fundamental conflict reveals an opportunity: by developing dedicated devices and app stores for crypto users, charging fees far below traditional platforms (e.g., 0.5% instead of 30%), new paths can be forged amid the tech giant domination.

Rosa: Is the business model based on earning transaction fees?

Anatoly: Similar to Binance or Metamask, charging minimal fees on massive crypto transactions. While the rates are less than 1/30th of traditional platforms, the average transaction value per crypto user is tens of times that of a regular internet user.

Rosa: Do we need to adjust the existing incentive system to attract talent to build the crypto infrastructure?

Anatoly: The key is to target the right users. I cannot be sure if the general public needs crypto products. However, the existing crypto user base, although only 1% of the global population (about 100 million people), has an Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) that is tens of times higher than that of the average internet user.

Just as Pump.fun, after achieving initial success, its founder still insists on challenging TikTok, entrepreneurs always pursue their ultimate goal.

How Stablecoins Impact the Global Monetary System

Rosa: How will the listing of stablecoins like Circle affect the crypto financial ecosystem?

Anatoly: There is a clear contradiction in the current market's perception of stablecoins: both overly focused and severely underestimating their potential. Imagine a scenario where the global stablecoin circulation reaches $50 trillion, which means the US dollar has completed a full digital transformation and has become a daily circulation currency in Europe, Southeast Asia, and even Africa.

In an environment lacking official US government support and facing strict regulatory pressures, the stablecoin market has already surpassed $250 billion, and this development trend will continue to accelerate.

Rosa: Has there been a shift in the policy stance of global regulatory authorities towards stablecoins?

Anatoly: Indeed, there has been a shift in regulatory attitudes this year, but the legislative process may still take 2-4 years to complete. Bitcoin has formed a unique system of value belief, and the development trajectory of other crypto applications is like the early days of email technology, and its ultimate form is still unpredictable.

Sam: How will stablecoins affect the global monetary system?

Anatoly: The data clearly reveals the current situation: Euro stablecoin development is hindered, and the Renminbi stablecoin relies mainly on policy drive.

However, the actual market demand is still highly concentrated on USD stablecoins, even street vendors in Argentina commonly use USDT to hedge against local currency inflation risks. This dollarization process, driven by the private sector, may further solidify the US dollar's global dominance.

Rosa: Does this mean that "local stablecoins" are just wishful thinking on the part of VCs?

Anatoly: Under the current financial infrastructure framework, a USD stablecoin does effectively address real payment pain points. Just as cross-border e-commerce generally adopts a USD settlement pattern, an on-chain economy is spontaneously forming a similar USD-dominated settlement zone. Unless faced with mandatory policy intervention, this network effect-based currency arrangement will remain stable.

Sam: Is the global penetration of USD stablecoins reshaping a new paradigm of USD hegemony?

Anatoly: In terms of actual impact, spontaneous micro-level choices are more influential. When Argentine street vendors autonomously adopt USDT for trade settlement, this grassroots USDization process is more effective than any policy intervention. If the stablecoin market size surpasses $1 trillion in two years, it would mean that 5% of the global USD supply has completed its transition to an on-chain form.

The Public Opinion Dilemma in the Crypto World

Rosa: Linda has a strong network of media, clients, and industry professionals. I believe her future is still bright. This incident closely follows Grok's controversy, where Grok made anti-Semitic remarks, yet Musk downplayed it. What is your take on this storm?

Anatoly: This is the norm of the Internet; there will always be those spreading malice. Interestingly, people try to use cryptocurrency to solve such problems, such as developing anti-counterfeit coins. However, once an AI system is open to public input, it is destined to be intentionally crossed. Frankly, Grok's remarks were relatively restrained.

Rosa: In the crisis of information trust, can cryptographic technology reconstruct a trusted verification mechanism?

Anatoly: It is more likely to revert to the prediction market (Polymarket), although there is also room for manipulation, a balance will be formed under economies of scale.

Rosa: How do you view Andreessen Horowitz partner Shawn Maguire recently being labeled as an "Islamist" for commenting on the Mandani project?

Anatoly: While I don't always agree with Shawn's views, sometimes he even seems aggressive, but I support the principle of freedom of speech. The Internet should be able to tolerate different voices; people can disagree with his views, but they should not deprive him of the right to express them.

Rosa: Why did Shawn Maguire choose controversial remarks instead of a professional approach to gain attention?

Anatoly: This phenomenon is inherently linked to the dilemma of internet information quality: the attention-driven audience often seeks to maximize information absorption and form judgments on everything, while algorithms, to maintain user engagement, continuously push content that reinforces existing biases.

For example, if a user believes that Curry's shooting is inefficient, the system will loop video clips of his missed shots. When individuals immerse themselves in such information cocoons for an extended period, a disconnect between perception and reality becomes inevitable.

Rosa: What is the attitude of crypto punks toward the current industry ecosystem? Are they raging with anger, or are they too busy making gains to care?

Anatoly: This is a very interesting question. Those punks who were truly angry have already left. Just as no one remembers the open internet before Facebook, when people who held onto their ideals exit, their voices also disappear.

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