Compiled & Translated by: TechFlow
Guest: Leah Wald, SOL Strategies CEO
Host: Jack Kubine
Podcast Source: Lightspeed
Original Title: The Solana Playbook With Leah Wald
Broadcast Date: March 27, 2025
Key Points Summary
In this special episode, we invite Leah Wald, who brings exciting insights live from DAS NY 2025. This episode will focus on the launch of Solana Futures ETF in 2025, provide an in-depth analysis of SOL Strategies' strategic guide, and explore Leah's unique perspectives on the current cryptocurrency market. Additionally, we will discuss Solana's long-term vision and its latest industry developments.
Highlights
In the early history of cryptocurrency, the largest holders were often individual investors.
Solana's institutionalization is still in its early stages, with more discussions just beginning.
One of Solana's successes is its ability to engage with various institutions and attract them to consider running blockchain projects on its platform.
Comparing SOL Strategies to Solana's Microstrategy is not a comprehensive analogy.
A fairer approach would be to establish a genuine tech company.
What I love about the Solana community is the variety of startups exploring innovation.
Like Bitcoin, which took a long time to establish its role as a "store of value", Solana and SOL itself are more speculative and will need time to find their direction.
A potentially overlooked issue is the difference between institutional purchases of SOL assets and institutions operating money market funds on the Solana platform. Compared to a potential on-chain NASDAQ in the future, I believe the possibility of pension funds purchasing SOL assets is obviously more practical.
Leah Wald:
Your point makes sense. Observing the development paths of different projects is indeed very interesting. I believe one of Solana's successes is its ability to engage in dialogue with various institutions and attract them to consider running blockchain projects on its platform. Solana has shown strong persuasiveness in this regard because it has many significant advantages. However, how funds are allocated after entering the Solana ecosystem and which areas they flow to are important issues that need to be explored in depth. Fortunately, as we discussed two days ago, these topics are gradually receiving attention.
Jack:
You previously mentioned the difference between institutions and ordinary investors, but in fact, the scale of funds is not the main dividing line between them, as there are also some so-called "ordinary whales" (referring to individual investors holding large amounts of assets). Does your SOL Strategies often interact with individual investors like Joe who have held a large amount of Solana for a long time? After all, he might be managing a considerable amount of assets.
Leah Wald:
Indeed, this is an interesting phenomenon. One of my jobs is to communicate with investors and share our ideas and stories. For investors like Joe, he might be very satisfied with holding SOL long-term, just like many Bitcoin investors who are happy to hold their Bitcoin and may discuss the importance of ETFs with us. This choice itself is good because investors should have diversified investment options.
Currently, we are the only option providing stock investment exposure for ordinary investors through IRA or similar accounts. This is also a topic of concern in the development of Bitcoin ETFs. However, I think investors like Joe are more likely to directly hold and Stake his Solana assets rather than immediately buying our stocks. Unless our stocks become more attractive to them or they become more actively involved in stock trading, this transformation may take time.
Laine's Acquisition Strategy
Jack:
Talking about your validators, I recently saw an interesting news about SOL Strategies. You acquired the Laine Solana validator, and I remember his name is Michael, who also operates stakewiz.com. This acquisition is quite special. I want to know how you initiated the conversation with him? Why did you choose to acquire this specific validator and make Michael the Chief Operating Officer? Can you share this story?
Leah Wald:
Frankly, this acquisition was largely due to Michael's personal capabilities. He is an excellent and intelligent businessman with an outstanding engineering background, and talents like him are indeed rare. Therefore, discussing the acquisition of the Laine validator, stakewiz.com, and other related assets completely aligns with our strategic logic of achieving external expansion in the next phase. This acquisition increased our shares to approximately 3.3 million.
Jack:
This almost doubles your shares and seems to have been completed in a short time.
Leah Wald:
That's right. Michael's impact after joining has been significant. In the Solana community, he is widely respected, not only for his abilities and intelligence but also for his genuine commitment to the community. You can also see this community focus from our Chief Technology Officer's work. For example, we recently supported the SIMD02,2,8 proposal, even though it doesn't entirely align with our economic interests as validators, we still chose to support it because it is more beneficial to the overall development of the Solana network.
Our goal is to build a company deeply integrated with the Solana ecosystem and contribute to the long-term development of the Solana network through this approach. This is also one of the reasons for acquiring the Laine validator.
Is SOL Strategies the Microstrategy of Solana?
Jack:
Has SOL Strategies' development plan always been about acquisitions? When I first heard about SOL Strategies, it was described as "Solana's Microstrategy". I originally thought you would buy large amounts of SOL through debt issuance like Microstrategy, possibly using Stake to gain additional returns, such as Staking SOL on platforms like Jito or Helius. This is what I heard on the Lightspeed podcast. However, now it seems you have delved into the validator domain, not only acquiring validators but also Max frequently posting comments about SIMD proposals on Twitter. And Michael, a well-known figure in the Solana validator community, has also joined your team. So, did you plan this development direction from the beginning, or did this strategy gradually form over time?
Leah Wald:
Comparing SOL Strategies to Microstrategy of Solana is actually an incomplete analogy. In my view, the limitation of this model is that it simply plays the "Net Asset Value (NAV) game" by accumulating assets, which is not enough. I need to consider how to operate a real business while creating long-term value for the company's shareholders. If the market thinks we are just waiting for SOL to appreciate, that would be unfair to shareholders. I believe a fairer approach is to build a real technology company.
Our strategy is to achieve growth through a slower but steady approach. Initially, we mainly relied on external acquisitions (inorganic growth) to expand our business, such as acquiring validators and related assets. Over time, we will gradually shift towards natural growth (organic growth) based on our own capabilities. Our ultimate goal is to become an infrastructure company for Solana.
In this process, we are indeed accumulating as many SOL as possible and Staking them to our validator nodes. But this is only part of the overall strategy, similar to Bitcoin miners who increase Bitcoin on their balance sheets through financing while operating mining businesses. I believe this model is more powerful and meaningful because we are not just "buying SOL" but playing an actual role in the Solana infrastructure ecosystem. With the help of Max and Michael, we are also actively engaging with institutional investors to realize this vision.
Jack:
Besides operating validators, are you considering expanding into other infrastructure businesses? Is your goal limited to validators, or are there broader technical directions to explore?
Leah Wald:
We are indeed considering more opportunities beyond validator business, especially in auxiliary technology areas supporting the Solana ecosystem. Currently, we are in discussions with multiple parties, exploring more possibilities.
Solana's Investment Philosophy
Jack:
What is the current investment philosophy of Solana? You seem to maintain some connection with Microstrategy. Michael Saylor played an important role in the Bitcoin field and can be said to be Bitcoin's "spokesperson". I feel you are trying to do something similar. Now seems to be a turning point, and recently we have seen the heat of meme coins fading, such as the once very popular Fire Dancer, which now seems to have decreased in attention. So, what is your investment philosophy for the remaining time in 2025? How do you view the Solana network, and how are you promoting Solana now?
Leah Wald:
This is a profound question, which I'll answer in three parts. I believe Solana is currently seeking its positioning. As a blockchain still in its early stages, it is striving to clarify its role and value proposition. Solana has its own advantages and core pillars, which prove its efficiency superiority over some other blockchains. But the key question is, who will find these advantages attractive? Who will choose to build on it? Who will be its users?
In the Solana ecosystem, discussions around products are very active, such as the concept of "structured products". So, will Solana become a platform that supports on-chain mutual funds? Or will it evolve into a payment system? These are all possible directions. One thing I really like about the Solana community is that there are various types of startups exploring innovations. This year, I hope to see Solana further clarify its market segment. Although it has established its core advantages, it has not yet fully found its unique positioning.
This process takes time. Just like Bitcoin, it took a long time to establish its role as a "value store". Solana and SOL itself are more speculative, so it also needs time to find its direction. In 2025, I will closely follow Solana's development, hoping to see it find its unique market segment.
Final Thoughts
Jack:
Regarding other ecosystems, such as Sui, other Layer 1 blockchains, and Ethereum. To be honest, I think there are investment opportunities similar to SOL Strategies in these ecosystems. Why haven't we seen more holding companies adopting similar investment strategies? Do you think such companies will emerge in the next year and a half?
Leah Wald:
I believe such companies will indeed emerge, and I have already been in touch with some interested enterprises. Overall, I expect to see many companies going public through IPO in the United States, possibly in the form of Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPAC). In Canada, I think some companies may try to leverage Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS).
However, as the number of such companies increases, I believe the key issue is how to define success, and merely going public does not mean success. True success depends on multiple factors, such as market participation, investor interest, and trading volume support in the stock ecosystem. This support can come from both the token community and the capital market ecosystem. Therefore, I believe we will see more companies going public, but they need to have more comprehensive strategic thinking, rather than just going public for the sake of going public.
I hope to see companies with more comprehensive thinking, not just aiming to go public, but having long-term considerations. I welcome competition. I believe we will see such a situation and look forward to seeing these companies actively participate in ecosystem building. Only then can the industry truly promote healthy development.
