Bitwise chief investment officer Matt Hougan says his bullish outlook on layer-1 blockchain Solana stems from two main factors that set it apart from competitors like Ethereum.
“I love investments that give me two ways to win,” Hougan said in an X post on Thursday, explaining that Solana (SOL) is making a “bet” the stablecoin and tokenization infrastructure market will grow, and that it will “win an increasing share of that market,” which “seem like good bets to me.”
“I think people dramatically underestimate how much and how quickly these technologies will remake markets. It’s easy for me to imagine this market growing by 10x or more,” Hougan added.
“I’m very bullish on Ethereum and select other blockchains. But I do like Solana’s odds of winning a larger share of this market. It offers fast, user-friendly technology, backed by a great community with a ship-fast attitude.”
Hougan also sang Solana’s praises earlier this month, predicting the blockchain would become the Wall Street network of choice for stablecoins, while Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley has also been spruiking it, arguing that Solana could gain over Ethereum in the staking exchange-traded fund market, citing its design as more favorable for investors.
Solana is far from rivaling Ethereum for now
Ethereum remains the market leader by a significant margin, with the largest stablecoin market capitalization of over $163 billion and a total locked value exceeding $85 billion, according to data aggregator DefiLlama.
Solana is far below, with a stablecoin market capitalization of over $14.9 billion and a total locked value of more than $11.3 billion.
However, Hougan said Tron, Solana, and BNB Smart Chain are among the “top challengers” for the crown.
Solana is gaining ground with institutional interest
He also believes that institutional interest in Solana is growing, with deals such as those of financial services company Western Union adopting the Solana blockchain for its stablecoin settlement system on Tuesday.
“It’s a newer asset and is playing catch-up against its peers in winning institutional mandates, but it’s gaining ground,” Hougan said.
“If I’m right, the combination of a growing market and a growing market share will be explosive for Solana. Just as with Bitcoin.”
Related: Can Solana rival Wall Street? Kyle Samani thinks so
Bitwise has products tied to Solana, such as its staking ETF, which launched on Tuesday.
Bitcoin also has two ways to win
Along with Solana, Hougan said Bitcoin has two ways to win as well, through a “bet” that the global store of value market will grow, and Bitcoin (BTC) will take an increasing share, which only requires one to “happen for me to do well.”
“A mistake many investors make is focusing too much on Bitcoin winning market share and too little on the growth of the market. The global store of value market has grown by 10x in the past 20 years, from under $3 trillion in 2005 to $27.5 trillion today.”
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