Subvert BTC/ETH? Can the Solana '8% real income' myth support a gamble of 1.65 billion US dollars?

A sudden capital storm is pushing Solana into the spotlight of the crypto world. In early 2024, Multicoin Capital joined hands with top investment institutions such as Galaxy Digital and Jump Crypto to announce the injecting up to US$1.65 billion in private equity funds into Solana's "Decentralized Autonomous Treasury" strategy. What's more striking is that Multicoin co-founder Kyle Samani not only personally served as chairman of Solana's treasury company Forward Industries, but also invested an additional $25 million in personal funds.

At a time when Bitcoin and Ethereum are still widely regarded as "mainstream choices", this move is tantamount to dropping a bombshell, which instantly triggered heated discussions in the market. Questioning, chasing, and speculation are everywhere: What exactly did Samani see? Does Solana really have disruptive potential? Is the so-called "real income" an innovative breakthrough, or another carefully packaged narrative bubble?

The "conspiracy" between the King of Narratives and 1.65 billion capital

Kyle Samani is not an ordinary venture capitalist. As early as 2018 when Solana was still in the seed round, Multicoin had already bet heavily. The industry estimates that its early ROI may have reached thousands of times. Not only is he famous for accurately capturing the track, he is also known as the "Singing Single Godfather" - a narrative master who is good at transforming complex technologies into moving stories. In his opinion, the outcome of the crypto market often depends not only on the quality of the code, but also on who can hold the right to speak.

This time, the core concept he created for Solana is "Real Yield". The so-called real income refers to the returns obtained by SOL holders through pledges that come from actual economic activities on the chain, rather than simply relying on the false prosperity brought about by additional issuance of tokens. Data shows that the current annualized yield on staking on Solana network is about 8.05%, of which 6.19% comes from inflation incentives, while 1.86% comes from real transaction fees and MEV (miners can withdraw value) income.

In comparison, Ethereum pledge annualized income is about 3.21%, and it mainly relies on additional issuance; Bitcoin does not have the ability to generate interest at all. In this context, Samani defines SOL as "interest-producing currency stocks" - both have the attributes of currency circulation and stock-like cash flow capture capabilities. This statement hits the core concerns of traditional financial institutions and has also become a key narrative fulcrum for attracting US$1.65 billion in rapid capital accumulation.

Real returns or risk bubbles? Solana's triple logic and regulatory reef

Samani has built a clear three-layer logical support for this huge investment:

First, cash flow generation ability . With its high TPS and extremely low fees, Solana continues to attract high-frequency trading DApps and institutional users, and on-chain returns are gradually shifting from "inflation-driven" to "usage fee-driven".

Second, the value feedback mechanism . Due to the use of Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS), the vast majority of fees and MEV benefits are distributed directly to the stakeholders rather than to the node operators. This design strengthens the "shareholder role" of token holders and makes capital return more efficient and concentrated.

Third, a self-consistent growth cycle . Investors are not only investors, but also participate in governance more deeply - establishing treasury companies, holding important positions, and leading asset allocation. Capital inflows improve liquidity, liquidity pushes up the price of currency, and the price of currency rises back to pledge returns, thereby attracting more funds to enter and forming a seemingly perfect positive flywheel.

But there are huge risks behind the halo, especially the pressure at the regulatory level. At present, the US SEC is strengthening the review of "staking-as-a-Service" and stablecoin projects. If SOL is identified as a securities—as the class action allegations faced after the FTX crash in 2022—then the entire theoretical basis of its "interest-producing currency stocks" will collapse.

At the same time, European MiCA regulations and Hong Kong's stablecoin license system have been gradually implemented, putting higher requirements for the compliance operation of DAO organizations. Once Solana's "decentralized treasury" begins to implement active asset management or reinvestment, it is very likely to touch the red line between securities law and cross-border fund supervision.

In addition, the macro environment is not optimistic. Global interest rates remain high, and risky assets are generally under pressure. $1.65 billion is just the starting point. If you want to maintain continuous inflows and price stability, Solana must continue to create new topics and maintain high exposure - and this is exactly what Samani is best at, but also the most dangerous ability.

From gamble to trust: The long road that Solana needs to cross

After the news was announced, the market responded quickly. SOL transaction volume soared for a short time, and social media debate was fierce. Supporters believe this is a key leap from Solana to a "high-performance public chain" to a "sustainable economy"; critics accused Multicoin of continuing the speculative model of "high leverage, strong call, and high volatility".

The Ethereum community responded quickly, pointing out that with the advancement of EIP-4844 and Proto-Danksharding, its handling fee income and pledge returns will also be greatly improved, and the "real income" is not unique to Solana. Bitcoin supporters insist that "monetary attributes are the fundamentals" and believe that any form of interest generation mechanism may introduce centralized hidden dangers and systemic risks. These differences reflect the deep changes the crypto world is undergoing: competition has surpassed performance and ecological scale and evolved into a multidimensional competition of capital narratives, compliance strategies and community beliefs.

To truly transform this capital bet into long-term trust, Solana must answer three core questions:

• Can the real benefits last? The key lies in whether the on-chain economy can continue to expand, rather than relying on inflation and blood transfusions.
• Can we cross the regulatory minefield? Especially under the multiple regulatory frameworks such as SEC and MiCA, how to clarify the legality of its own non-security positioning and treasury operations.
• Can we get rid of capital dependence? Finally, we need to return to technological practicality and ecological endogenous growth.

What Samani and Multicoin are doing is a high-risk, high-reward narrative experiment. They try to shape Solana into a "new paradigm of digital assets that can generate interest" and challenge the dual hegemony of BTC and ETH in the status of value storage and ecological.

However, the real crypto revolution is never just a game of capital. It concerns whether technology can be implemented, whether trust can be established, and whether ecology can produce self-health. $1.65 billion can buy time and popularity, but it cannot buy lasting beliefs and real value. The final outcome of this gamble does not depend on whether Samani can tell a moving story, but on whether Solana can write an open, sustainable and trustworthy new financial future.

The above is the detailed content of Subvert BTC/ETH? Can the Solana '8% real income' myth support a gamble of 1.65 billion US dollars?. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!