Solana Is Winning Internet Capital Markets: The Bull Case Explained w/ DJ Hà Trang

Watch on YouTube ↗  |  January 23, 2026 at 19:39  |  31:00  |  Milk Road Daily
Speakers
DJ Hotrang — Head of Research, Bird Eye
John Gillen — Co-Host, Milk Road Macro

Summary

DJ Hà Trang, Head of Research at Birdeye, joins the Milk Road Show to explain why Solana is positioned to win internet capital markets. She argues Solana's fundamentals, revenue, DEX activity, stablecoin turnover, infrastructure, and institutional tokenization efforts have grown strongly even as price action has been frustrating. She expects price appreciation may take two to three quarters and depends on macro easing, with a conservative case of flat SOL into end-2026 and a bull case of new all-time highs if conditions improve.

  • Solana led major chains in real economic value/revenue in 2025, generating over $1.4B and about one-third of leading network revenue.
  • Solana DEX volume surpassed $3T, with H2 diversification from memecoins toward prop AMMs, stablecoin swaps, and tokenized assets.
  • Solana had zero outages in 2025; upgrades like Frankendancer, DoubleZero, and Alpenglow aim to improve speed and UX.
  • Solana's USDC turnover reached 977% monthly, and Visa's USDC settlement plus 30+ payment projects support its payment and institutional thesis.
  • RWAs on Solana topped $1B, and tokenized equities surpassed $200M AUM within three months of launch.
  • Solana is also expanding multi-asset trading by bringing foreign L1 assets like Monad, Starnet, and Zora onto its chain.
  • Hyperliquid is taking perp market share while Solana has been slow in perpetuals, a competitive watch point.
  • DJ expects SOL price to need two to three quarters and macro improvement; conservative case is flat into end-2026, bull case new ATH.
Ideas
DJ Hotrang Head of Research, Bird Eye 0:00
Solana fundamentals outpace price; bull case intact
Solana is winning internet capital markets because its ecosystem fundamentals are far stronger than short-term price action suggests. It leads major blockchains in real economic value/revenue, generated over $3T in DEX volume in 2025, has high stablecoin capital efficiency, zero outages in 2025, major infrastructure upgrades like Frankendancer, DoubleZero, and Alpenglow, and growing institutional adoption in tokenized assets. Near-term price may need two to three quarters and a better macro climate, but the conservative case is SOL holding current levels into end-2026 and the positive case is a new all-time high if macro improves.
DJ Hotrang Head of Research, Bird Eye 10:20
Solana DEX volume broadens beyond memecoins
Solana's DEX volume surpassed $3 trillion in 2025, more than BNB and Ethereum. The first half was memecoin-driven, but in the second half the majority of volume shifted to prop AMMs, stablecoin swaps, tokenized stocks, and institutional market makers, with memecoins falling to about 15% of volume. This diversification signals market maturity and more sustainable, sticky volume into 2026.
DJ Hotrang Head of Research, Bird Eye 10:52
Solana prop AMMs are flourishing
Prop AMMs on Solana are flourishing and became the majority of DEX volume in H2 2025; memecoin volume fell to about 15%. Humidifi was the leading DEX for one week, accounting for almost 40% of Solana DEX volume, showing a restructuring toward more sophisticated and sustainable trading.
DJ Hotrang Head of Research, Bird Eye 19:30
Solana RWA market passes one billion
Real-world assets on Solana surpassed $1 billion in market cap, largely from tokenized US Treasuries such as BlackRock's BUIDL and Ondo's OUSG and USDY. Institutions are starting to use Solana for on-chain settlement, supporting the thesis of institutional adoption and asset diversification on Solana.
DJ Hotrang Head of Research, Bird Eye 20:11
Tokenized equities on Solana are growing
Tokenized equities on Solana are growing rapidly: Xstocks by Backed Finance, Remora stocks by Step Finance, and Prestocks have surpassed $200 million in AUM within three months, and a major Ethereum player launched 200+ tokenized equities and ETFs on Solana. The speaker expects 2026 to be a harsh battlefield for market share, with policy efforts to enable compliant blockchain-based securities issuance and trading.
DJ Hotrang Head of Research, Bird Eye 25:21
Hyperliquid gains perp market share
Solana has been slow in perpetuals trading, and Hyperliquid is taking a giant share of perp trading. This is a competitive share-gain signal for Hyperliquid and a drawback for Solana's perps ambitions, worth monitoring.
Up Next

This Milk Road Daily video, published January 23, 2026, features DJ Hotrang discussing SOL, Solana DEXs, Solana prop AMMs, Solana RWA, Solana tokenized equities, HYPE. 6 trade ideas extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.

Speakers: DJ Hotrang  · Tickers: SOL, Solana DEXs, Solana prop AMMs, Solana RWA, Solana tokenized equities, HYPE