Solana real-world assets hit $2B as big banks join ecosystem

Solana is no longer just the memecoin chain. That’s the takeaway from a new report by Messari, which found that the network attracted major institutional players and payment firms during the first quarter of this year. Even as crypto prices struggled, Solana’s real-world asset market capitalization climbed 43% quarter-over-quarter to $2.01 billion.

Tokenized finance leads the way

The growth was largely driven by BlackRock’s tokenized money market fund, BUIDL, which is built on Solana in partnership with Securitize. After Anchorage Digital added custody support, BUIDL’s value on Solana reached $525.4 million by the end of March. Anchorage held about 81% of the fund’s supply on the network, according to Messari.

Big financial names are also expanding their presence. Ondo Finance launched over 200 tokenized stocks and ETFs on Solana through its Ondo Global Markets platform. Franklin Templeton partnered with Ondo to bring tokenized ETFs onchain. Citigroup, working with PwC, completed a proof-of-concept for tokenized trade finance on Solana.

Payments pick up pace

Payments have become another strong use case for Solana. Messari noted that firms like Visa, Stripe, Worldpay, Western Union, and PayPal have integrated Solana for stablecoin settlement or launched native payment products on the network over the past year. The reason is straightforward: Solana’s low fees and near-instant settlement times make it attractive for payment infrastructure.

Stablecoin market capitalization on Solana ended the quarter at $14.85 billion, putting the blockchain third among all networks. Adjusted stablecoin transfer volume rose 13% quarter-over-quarter to $246.8 billion.

Onchain activity stays resilient

Despite falling crypto prices, onchain activity on Solana held up well. The network’s total application revenue, which Messari calls “Chain GDP,” remained roughly flat at $342.2 million during the quarter. That suggests the shift toward practical uses is not just hype.

Still, the nature of activity on Solana is evolving. Messari pointed to rising adoption of high-speed trading bots known as “Prop AMMs,” which are starting to beat centralized exchanges on execution quality and trading costs.

A faster future

Solana’s upcoming Alpenglow upgrade could be a game-changer for the network. It promises to reduce transaction finality times from roughly 12.8 seconds to about 150 milliseconds. Messari described the upgrade as one of Solana’s most significant technical developments. If it delivers, those performance gains could strengthen Solana’s position in payments, tokenized finance, and even AI-driven applications.

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