Latest news with #LilyLiu
Arabian Post
3 days ago
- Business
- Arabian Post
Solana and Dubai Forge Strategic Blockchain Alliance
Solana Foundation has formalised a partnership with Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority , marking a significant step in integrating blockchain innovation within the emirate's regulatory framework. The Memorandum of Understanding , signed on 3 June 2025, outlines collaborative initiatives aimed at fostering a robust crypto ecosystem in Dubai. Central to this alliance is the establishment of the Solana Economic Zone in Dubai, envisioned as a hub for developers, entrepreneurs, and startups operating on the Solana blockchain. This zone is designed to provide access to Dubai's progressive regulatory environment, including sandboxes and talent networks, positioning the city as an attractive destination for international Web3 projects. The partnership encompasses talent development programs, regulatory workshops, ecosystem research, and market insight sharing. Solana Foundation and VARA plan to co-host events, offer policy guidance, and support Solana-based startups in or relocating to Dubai. An integral component of the agreement is the sharing of anonymised data to evaluate the impact of digital assets on employment and economic growth within the UAE. ADVERTISEMENT Lily Liu, President of Solana Foundation, emphasised the strategic importance of this collaboration, stating that it represents a new chapter for Solana in the MENA region. She highlighted Dubai's leadership in regulating and fostering digital assets, noting that the partnership bridges builders and regulators in one of the fastest-growing crypto hubs globally. Henson Orser, CEO of VARA, welcomed the collaboration, reinforcing the authority's commitment to building a future-forward economy powered by innovation, trust, and inclusion. He acknowledged the potential of the Solana Economic Zone to attract international projects seeking to scale operations under a progressive regulatory framework. The announcement has had a positive impact on Solana's market performance. Following the news, the SOL token experienced a modest increase, trading around $160, with a 4% rise observed on the day of the announcement. Market analysts interpret this as a bullish signal for Solana's long-term outlook, reflecting growing confidence in the ecosystem and broader adoption.
Forbes
30-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
The Solana Show Rolls Into NYC Challenging Ethereum's RWA Crown
The challenge for the RWA protocol crown is on getty Last week Solana Accelerate rolled into NYC, sold out and bursting at the seams, with a who's who of industry and government, and a deluge of big and exciting announcements for the digital assets community. Solana fired a shot across Ethereum's bow, planting the real-world-assets (RWAs) digital flag firmly on the protocol, and declaring that it is focused on institutional markets, intensifying the competitive dynamic between these one-two market leaders The big announcement that shook the TradFi world was the R3 Solana collaboration bringing together R3s private protocol for financial institutions (FIs) with Solana's high-speed low-cost network, uniting TradFi with DeFi. Dave Rutter, R3 chief executive officer commented, 'We're finally seeing the maturation on the DeFi and crypto space developing enough and clarity on the regulatory side that we can bring these amazing ecosystems together.' The collaboration sees Lily Liu, President of the Solana Foundation, join R3's board of directors. R3 has the world's largest collection of permissioned RWA networks, with over $10 billion in regulated assets on-chain across its platforms and now brings this to Solana. Adds Rutter, 'Yes, we can tokenize and move securities instantly, but tokenized cash doesn't exist yet in TradFi. So, by merging these worlds, it opens up a plethora of opportunities for both sides, both the DeFi and the TradFi players.' Sergey Nazarov, Chainlink co-founder commented 'Your ability to own certain equities, commodities, funds on chain will allow you to manage risk in a different way. It'll allow you to use them as collateral. It'll allow you to get yield from them in different ways. And you'll actually see a kind of explosion of innovative financial products that would have historically been built by banks or asset managers, but now can be built by startups like the ones at this conference.' Former CFTC Chairman Christopher Giancarlo predicted that within a decade, significant securities offerings would be tokenized on-chain stating, 'There won't be a security offering, debt offering, equities offering of any significance that is not tokenized onchain.' Solana was conceived by Anatoly Yakovenko, a former Qualcomm engineer, in 2017 and Solana mainnet beta launched in 2020 featuring basic smart contract support and Proof of History (PoH) integrated with Proof of Stake (PoS). From 2021, Solana experienced explosive growth in users, developers, and total value locked (TVL) and became a major destination for NFTs, DeFi, and Web3 apps, especially know for popular memecoins. The Total Value Locked (TVL) in Solana's DeFi protocols reached an all-time high of $7.8 billion, a 105% year-over-year increase. Decentralized exchange (DEX) volumes hit $107 billion last month, reflecting a 100% year-over-year growth. The U.S. policy and regulatory environment has changed with the new administration, now championing innovators of crypto a digital assets, and the genuinely positive excitement at the conference was infectious. Added Nazarov, Chainlink, 'I've never seen the U.S. government or other governments all over the world more positive on creating [a] permissive, proactive kind of acceleration of our industry…. That's going to unlock a lot of institutional capital, a lot of institutional great tokenized equities, commodities, funds. And that's going to be really the next iteration of our industry.' Senator Bill Hagerty used the conference to discuss frameworks like the GENIUS Act with a focus on government policy to modernize financial infrastructure, the blockchain payment system, and increased standards for efficiency and stablecoin regulation noting the maturing relationship between the blockchain ecosystem and Washington, D.C. Hagerty said, 'We started working on this to take the stablecoin industry into the modern era here in America. Today we've been relying on a system, a payment system, that was designed in the 1970s and the 1980s. It's clunky. It's inefficient. It takes days to clear a payment. If we're able to move this on to blockchain technology, it can be almost instantaneous. So we're going to take this outdated system in America, put it into the 21st century.' Added Rutter, 'We're finally seeing the maturation on the DeFi and crypto space developing enough and clarity on the regulatory side that we can bring these amazing ecosystems together.' The Solana ecosystem is intentionally courting regulatory clarity and legislative partnerships as DeFi takes a leap forward into maturing as a viable public utility. Solana Labs launched the Solana Attestation Service (SAS) — a decentralized identity and verification framework to support KYC/AML needs and enhance trust in on-chain applications, better aligning with regulatory requirements for robust identity tooling in DeFi and blockchain-based financial markets. There was a lot of talk in the private markets community on the conference fringes about fairmint's Open Captable Protocol (OCP) whitepaper, launched in advance of Accelerate. I sat down with Joris Delanoue, a co-author of the whitepaper, and the chief executive officer of fairmint, an SEC registered Transfer Agent processing over $1 billion of digital private markets securities a year. Delanou says, 'This protocol (standard) aims to provide a secure, compliant, and standardized foundation for on-chain equity management, enabling regulated intermediaries to enhance their service offerings.' Delanoue goes on to quote SEC Chair Paul Atkins' Keynote Address at the Crypto Task Force Roundtable on Tokenization earlier this month, "This movement of securities from off-chain to on-chain systems is akin to the transition of audio recordings from analog vinyl records to cassette tapes to digital software decades ago." The opportunity for firms in the Solana community to adopt the OCP standard for private markets securities is not lost on anyone in the ATS space as it is seen as a standard to (excuse the pun) accelerate the issuance and adoption of tokenized private market securities. Another big conference announcement catching the attention of the TradFi crowd sees Kraken, the crypto exchange, with plans to launch tokenized public market stocks to non-U.S. residents in partnership with Backed Finance, based in Zug Switzerland, and Solana. Backed is one of the OGs tokenizing U.S. stocks for non-U.S. residents, a growing market. Mark Greenberg, head of consumer business for Kraken said, 'Why can't I trade my equities on a Saturday or at 2 a.m.? Why can't I store it in a self-custodial wallet?.... All those are things that we've been thinking about how do we solve, and xStocks is our approach to actually doing that.' Time will tell whether Solana can successfully take on Ethereum's dominant market position as the public protocol of choice for TradFi players. Accelerate most certainly demonstrated the intent and the broad community support in a more collaborative U.S. policy and regulatory environment. Game on.
Int'l Business Times
23-05-2025
- Business
- Int'l Business Times
Psy Develops First Trustless Bridge from Dogecoin to Solana
Hong Kong, China, May 22nd, 2025, Chainwire Solana users will be able to transact with Dogecoin securely, powered by Psy and Wormhole, tapping into a $36B asset and its vast community for DeFi, gaming & more. Psy (formerly QED Protocol) has developed a trustless bridge connecting Dogecoin to the Solana blockchain. This innovation brings proof-of-work security to Solana while making Dogecoin, the world's largest memecoin, available to Solana's ecosystem of dapps. This innovation allows Solana and Dogecoin to directly 'speak' to each other, with each blockchain able to independently verify the other's transactions and consensus without requiring trust in third parties. The bridge not only enhances security but also creates substantial ecosystem opportunities. Bringing Dogecoin's $36B+ market cap and massive community to Solana opens new possibilities for both networks. Dogecoin users gain access to Solana's DeFi, NFT, and gaming applications, while Solana developers can tap into Dogecoin's extensive user base. Unlike traditional bridges, which often rely on multisig signers or custodians, Psy's next-generation proof-of-work technology validates Dogecoin Proof of Work consensus directly on Solana. This trust-minimized approach helps address a major weakness in crypto infrastructure: bridge hacks, which have caused more than $2.8 billion in losses to date. This positions Psy as the leading proof-of-work innovator for Solana, bridging the security benefits of proof-of-work with Solana's speed and programmability. This integration demonstrates that new proof-of-work chains, like Psy's, can interact with high-performance blockchains without sacrificing security or requiring centralized intermediaries. This bridge continues Psy Protocol's mission to empower developers to build hyper-scalable web3 applications to host the next generation of the decentralized internet. The bridge supports standard Dogecoin wallets and exchange deposits. Quotes 'We have been working hard to find ways to better serve the Doge community, and now we get the chance to offer them even greater utility for their Dogecoin,' Carter Feldman, CEO of Psy Protocol, said. 'This demonstrates the promise of combining best-in-class security with user demand and an established developer base.' 'We're thrilled to announce the DOGE bridge to Solana, a big step in welcoming one of crypto's most iconic communities to the Solana ecosystem,' said Lily Liu, President of the Solana Foundation. 'DOGE, Bitcoin's beloved pet, embodies the fun, irreverent spirit that drives on-chain culture. By bridging DOGE into Solana's network, we're inviting the Dogecoin community—and all OG crypto enthusiasts—to join us in marrying on-chain culture and decentralized finance.' "Trustless verification has always been the holy grail of interoperability, but achieving it at scale has remained elusive,' said Robinson Burkey, co-founder of Wormhole. 'Seeing Psy and Wormhole come together to build this around an asset like DOGE captures the true cyberpunk spirit of crypto. We're excited to help bring a $36B asset to Solana—soon to be powered by Wormhole." How the Bridge Works The bridge captures and verifies each Dogecoin block header on Solana. Block headers contain essential blockchain data, including the previous block hash, timestamp, difficulty target, the Merkle root of all transactions in the block, and the Proof of Work consensus algorithm. By verifying these headers directly on Solana, the system cryptographically confirms the validity of Dogecoin transactions without intermediaries. When users send DOGE to the bridge, the system verifies the deposit on the Dogecoin blockchain and mints an equivalent amount of QDOGE tokens on Solana. To convert back, QDOGE tokens are burned on Solana, with withdrawal messages securely transmitted through Wormhole's cross-chain messaging protocol, triggering the release of the original DOGE to the user's Dogecoin address. To enable this bridge, Psy has created a suite of infrastructure for developers: txindex: a fully-featured indexer for Dogecoin with effortless handling of forking behavior electrs-doge: the first open-source block explorer for Dogecoin doge-sdk: the first JavaScript SDK for Dogecoin forkr: an easy-to-use tool for simulating forks/re-orgs on Bitcoin and Dogecoin. About Psy Protocol Psy is the leading innovator in next-generation proof-of-work technology, on a mission to restore the security and decentralization principles of blockchain while enabling modern scalability. Psy is bridging the utility gap between Proof of Work and Proof of Stake chains, empowering developers to build hyper-scalable web3 applications, to provide a credible alternative to a centralized internet controlled by a handful of tech monopolies. Contact Mr Josh Adams Serotonin josh@
Finextra
22-05-2025
- Business
- Finextra
R3 connects to Solana
R3 and Solana Foundation today announce a strategic collaboration to bring regulated financial institutions and their real-world assets onto Solana. 0 It will deliver the first enterprise-grade, permissioned consensus service offered to the public directly on a Layer 1 network. This brings the institutional TradFi and DeFi worlds into true convergence, marrying the unparalleled reach of R3 into the TradFi ecosystem with the scale, liquidity, and innovation of internet capital markets. As the world's most used public blockchain, the Solana blockchain offers unmatched performance, low fees, and a vibrant global ecosystem - making it the ideal foundation for the next generation of regulated digital finance. R3 has invited Lily Liu, President of the Solana Foundation, to R3's Board of Directors, marking a strategic shift for R3 that unites the strengths of public and permissioned blockchains. Solana and R3 will bring regulated assets onto a public blockchain at a time when the RWA sector is at a pivotal juncture: regulatory tailwinds are spurring investor confidence in digital assets, financial institutions are becoming increasingly comfortable with leveraging public networks, and the DeFi sector is maturing. These forces are driving growing demand for high-quality, tokenized assets on public networks. As the world's largest collection of permissioned RWA networks, with over $10 billion in regulated assets on-chain across its platforms, the R3 ecosystem is ideally positioned to meet this demand. R3's Corda has the most live, in-production use cases and millions of transactions processed daily by leading institutional players. Integrating with Solana's blockchain will enable these assets to flow to meet the growing demand on public networks, and unlock new settlement options across these ecosystems, including using high-quality stablecoins. Unlike traditional interoperability approaches, this comprehensive integration means private transactions on Corda can be confirmed directly on Solana mainnet, inheriting the network's performance and security, and enabling true transactional atomicity. The collaboration will create a consensus service deployed on Solana to enable native interoperability between R3's existing Corda platform - as well as other private networks - and Solana, bridging the gap between permissioned and public blockchain ecosystems for the first time. This will enable regulated financial institutions - including banks, financial market infrastructure providers, and asset managers - to fully harness the openness and efficiency of Solana without re-writing their applications or compromising on compliance, security, or asset control. R3 chose Solana as its public Layer-1 substrate and the basis for its new consensus service following an extensive evaluation and technical review of decentralized protocols, selecting Solana for its low transaction fees, speed, scalability, as well as the Solana ecosystem's robust developer community, and relationships with numerous regulated financial institutions, including Blackrock, Franklin Templeton, and Hamilton Lane which have all deployed regulated assets on the network. Critically, this collaboration simplifies the complexity of managing RWAs on public blockchains - bringing Corda's proven strengths in identity, privacy, and compliance to a public and permissioned environment. This allows traditional financial institutions to operate with the same control and clarity they expect from enterprise-grade infrastructure, while unlocking the scale and flexibility of a public network. 'This is a major step forward for the institutional adoption of public blockchain," said Lily Liu, President of the Solana Foundation. "R3's decision to bring its regulated financial network onto Solana is powerful validation that public blockchains have reached institutional readiness. With Solana's unmatched performance, enterprise-grade permissioning, and growing roster of regulated assets, we're not just witnessing convergence between TradFi and DeFi - we're enabling it. This collaboration signifies that the future of capital markets will be built on public infrastructure. We're thrilled that the Solana ecosystem is leading the way." David E. Rutter, Founder and CEO of R3 commented: 'We've never pursued blockchain for its own sake - our mission is to solve real financial problems. After years of laying the groundwork, R3 is ready to bring our experience and our network of regulated financial institutions towards a new public future with one of the best and most trusted public ecosystems - Solana. This is more than a milestone; it's a strategic realignment for the entire industry. We know DeFi isn't coming to TradFi, so it's up to us to build the connective infrastructure that links these two ecosystems. This is about adapting to deliver real-world utility, institutional-grade readiness, and shaping the long-term future of regulated markets.' Clearstream, a leading post-trade infrastructure provider at the forefront of digitizing financial markets, is a long-standing user of R3's Corda which underpins its digital collateral solution. Jens Hachmeister, Head of Issuer Services & New Digital Markets at Clearstream, commented: 'Tokenization isn't just about digitizing assets - it's about building scalable, global infrastructure where real-world assets can interact directly and securely, no matter where investors are located. The convergence of public and private blockchains is no longer a future promise - it's happening now. This is a generational shift in how value moves, and a compelling moment for any institution looking to enter the crypto space. We're excited for what's ahead.'
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
GSR Anchors $100M Investment in Upexi to Purchase SOL, Stock Rockets 700%
Crypto trading firm GSR led a $100 million private placement into Upexi (UPXI), a consumer-goods company pivoting to a digital asset-based treasury strategy. The company, whose products include medicinal mushroom gummies and pet-grooming tools, said it will use the capital to accumulate and stake solana (SOL) tokens. The Tampa, Florida-based company had a market cap of $3 million on Friday. The investment, structured as a private investment in public equity (PIPE), comes as Upexi shifts from physical product manufacturing to managing part of its balance sheet using Solana, a high-speed blockchain known for low fees and fast settlement, according to a press release. The investment announcement sent Upexi's stock soaring more than 700%, from around $2.30 to $19 at the time of writing. GSR's involvement points to a growing overlap between public markets and blockchain finance. 'This investment highlights the growing demand for efficient, secure access to high-quality crypto assets in public markets' Brian Rudick, GSR's head of research, said in a statement. Solana Foundation president Lily Liu said the deal marked another step in connecting traditional financial firms with decentralized infrastructure. The move 'underscores GSR's confidence in Solana as a leading high-performance blockchain,' the finance company said in a release. Sign in to access your portfolio
