In a recent interview with TechCrunch, Solana co-founder Roj Gokal expressed his ambitions for the blockchain company to grow significantly, targeting a growth of 10 to 100 times its current size.
Gokal emphasized that Solana’s expansion would primarily be driven by partnerships with small businesses and infrastructure providers. While some crypto companies seek mainstream adoption through collaborations with big brand names, Solana is confident in its ability to succeed independently, focusing on its own unique approach.
Solana, a layer-1 blockchain that was launched in 2020, has gained substantial attention in the developer community. According to Coingecko data, excluding stablecoins, Solana currently ranks as the eighth largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, valued at around $7.6 billion. Gokal envisions Solana as the “Apple of crypto,” drawing parallels to Apple’s success built on user experience and performance.
The co-founder drew inspiration from Apple’s relentless focus on perfecting user interactions, highlighting the critical role of simplicity and seamless functionality. Solana aims to create a financial internet that offers a similar experience to the regular internet, enabling users to access decentralized applications and platforms effortlessly.
In an interesting move, Solana appears to be venturing into the smartphone market with its web3-focused Android device called Saga. The smartphone, which was released to the public in April, aims to make crypto products and services more accessible by offering them through a mobile device rather than relying solely on computers.
Solana is actively striving to remain competitive and innovative within the blockchain industry. Gokal outlined the company’s core thesis of nurturing new businesses, projects, and independent developers, highlighting the belief in the potential of small teams to bring about significant advancements. Additionally, Solana is pursuing infrastructure partnerships, with a notable collaboration with Google Cloud announced in November. This partnership allows users to deploy Solana nodes, while Google Cloud serves as a validator for the Solana network.
During the interview, Gokal also expressed interest in a potential partnership with Stripe. He noted that Stripe, a prominent online payment processing platform, introduced a fiat-to-cryptocurrency onramp in December 2022, with the majority of supported apps relying on Solana as their underlying infrastructure.
It is worth mentioning that Solana Labs, the team behind Solana, is also exploring ChatGPT and AI features. Anatoly Yakovenko, co-founder and CEO of Solana Labs, discussed these developments in a separate discussion held on May 23.
As Solana continues to make strides in the blockchain industry, its focus on user experience, performance, and partnerships with small businesses and infrastructure providers positions the company for significant growth. With ambitions to become the “Apple” of crypto, Solana aims to revolutionize the financial internet and empower users to seamlessly navigate the world of decentralized finance.
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