The Architects of Solana's Comeback: Who Holds the Largest Stakes and Influence in the Ecosystem

As cryptocurrency markets experienced a significant rebound in 2025, Solana emerged as one of the focal points in the industry’s renewed vigor. While Ethereum had its champion in Tom Lee—a figure whose massive investment thesis and public advocacy helped transform the network’s narrative—the Solana community began asking a critical question: who would become Solana’s equivalent voice? More importantly, who among the ecosystem’s most prominent figures possessed both the financial commitment and the platform to meaningfully shape the narrative around Solana’s future? These questions led industry observers to examine six major figures whose holdings and influence could define the next chapter of this Layer 1 blockchain.

Anthony Scaramucci: The Most Determined Wall Street Advocate for Solana’s Vision

Among the candidates, Anthony Scaramucci stands out as perhaps the most uncompromising champion of Solana’s potential on traditional finance’s biggest stage. The former Goldman Sachs investment banker and founder of SkyBridge Capital has cultivated deep institutional connections through annual SALT summits that bring together leading financial figures. His credentials as a veteran fund manager are strengthened by his track record of making bold, contrarian investments during market downturns—a characteristic that aligned him perfectly with Solana when others remained skeptical.

Scaramucci’s commitment to Solana transcends mere portfolio allocation. As of early 2025, SkyBridge Capital maintained nine figures worth of holdings spanning Bitcoin and Solana on its balance sheet, with an estimated $300 million crypto fund established for clients. While exact breakdowns remain undisclosed, Scaramucci has repeatedly emphasized that Solana represents a significant component of this allocation strategy. His confidence crystallized through multiple public declarations: at the September 2024 Solana Breakpoint conference, he boldly stated his conviction that tokenization of financial assets would ultimately occur on Solana—partly because his substantial personal holdings depended on this thesis. Earlier in May 2024, he predicted the arrival of a Solana ETF, a forecast that materialized that July.

What distinguishes Scaramucci from other figures in this discussion is his cross-institutional influence. Beyond his $300 million crypto fund, he maintains a YouTube channel with 170,000 subscribers and actively uses traditional media platforms to articulate Solana’s value proposition to mainstream investors. His communication style—occasionally dramatic and deliberately provocative—proves effective at capturing mainstream attention. More recently, he authored a forthcoming book titled “Solana Rising,” specifically designed to introduce traditional finance professionals to the blockchain’s investment case. This combination of financial commitment, media presence, and ideological conviction positions him as perhaps the most likely candidate to serve as Solana’s primary representative in traditional finance circles.

Michael Novogratz: The Macro Strategist Who Positioned Galaxy Digital for Solana’s Growth

Michael Novogratz, formerly a Goldman Sachs macro trader and partner at Fortress Investment Group, brings a different but equally significant influence through Galaxy Digital. His approach to Solana mirrors his broader investment philosophy: identifying macroeconomic trends—particularly “institutional adoption” and “on-chain asset tokenization”—and positioning accordingly.

Novogratz’s holdings paint a compelling picture of conviction. While Galaxy Digital’s primary revenue streams historically derived from Bitcoin and Ethereum OTC trading, the firm’s recent activities suggest a recalibrating thesis. According to on-chain data from Arkm, Galaxy Digital maintains 151,196 SOL tokens valued at approximately $25 million, with additional holdings transferred to centralized exchanges. More significantly, the firm’s institutional involvement in Solana expanded considerably: in March 2024, Galaxy Digital participated in the FTX Estate asset sale, acquiring between 25 to 30 million Solana tokens at a $64 discount to market prices. This single transaction alone generated millions in returns as prices subsequently recovered, ultimately generating a 300%+ return on that specific investment.

Beyond trading profits, Novogratz demonstrated long-term ecosystem commitment through Galaxy Digital’s participation in launching multiple Solana ETFs. In April 2025, the firm cooperated with CI Global Asset to launch the CI Galaxy Solana ETF (SOLX) on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Subsequently, Galaxy collaborated with Invesco to submit a spot Solana ETF application to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, signaling institutional-grade confidence in Solana’s regulatory acceptance.

Novogratz’s advantage lies in his ability to translate complex technical concepts into language that appeals to institutional investors. His public statements often blend personal conviction with Galaxy Digital’s proprietary market data, creating a messaging framework that resonates across both Wall Street and crypto-native audiences. However, his support for Solana remains somewhat more measured than other candidates—more institutional strategist than passionate evangelist—making him a stabilizing force rather than a breakthrough champion.

Kyle Samani: The Original Believer Who Built an Ecosystem Empire

Kyle Samani’s relationship with Solana predates nearly every candidate on this list, making him in many ways the spiritual anchor of Solana’s entire movement. As co-founder and managing partner of Multicoin Capital, Samani began investing during Solana’s seed round in 2018, followed by a $20 million allocation during the Series A in 2019. By the project’s 2021 peak, Multicoin’s total Solana holdings across multiple funds reached ten-digit status—exceeding $1 billion and representing approximately 8-12% of circulating supply at that time. These were not merely portfolio entries; they represented calculated bets on a technology that most traditional finance professionals dismissed as inferior to Ethereum’s established infrastructure.

Samani’s investment thesis has proven remarkably durable. Rather than viewing Solana as merely a faster settlement layer, he positioned the blockchain as the foundation for an “internet-scale capital market” capable of supporting real-world asset tokenization. His conviction led Multicoin to deploy capital throughout the Solana ecosystem: early investments in Jito, Drift, Helium, Dialect, and solscan created an interconnected network of projects that reinforced the ecosystem’s competitive advantages.

In a June 2025 interview, Samani articulated his mature thesis with characteristic bluntness: “People used to think Ethereum was untouchable, but Solana is on an inevitable path to disrupting Ethereum.” He criticized Ethereum’s development team for missing scaling opportunities, citing skyrocketing transaction fees and diminished user experience. Solana’s high-throughput architecture, low-latency settlement, and economical fee structure positioned it as the obvious beneficiary of this vacuum. His projection that global assets migrating to blockchains could expand the total addressable market from $3 trillion to $50 trillion across the decade placed Solana as the likely primary beneficiary.

Samani’s limitation compared to Scaramucci and Novogratz is strictly one of platform reach. As a venture capital figure operating primarily within crypto-native communities, his influence among traditional finance professionals and mainstream media remains constrained. Yet within the ecosystem itself, his voice carries unmatched authority—a thought leader whose conviction remained unshaken through bear markets and competitive challenges.

Michael McCann: The Asymmetric Bet and the Solana Treasury Vision

Joe McCann, founder and Chief Investment Officer of Asymmetric, represents perhaps the most extreme expression of conviction on this list. A former JPMorgan trader with 24+ years of Wall Street experience, McCann transitioned into blockchain advocacy with the intensity of a recent convert. Unlike other candidates who diversify across multiple blockchain initiatives, McCann has concentrated his fund’s resources almost exclusively on Solana—a bet that has generated headline-grabbing volatility.

McCann’s personal track record with Solana began during the 2021-2022 downturn when he accumulated holdings in the $8-11 range “as much Solana as possible,” according to his public statements. This conviction manifested through Asymmetric’s portfolio construction: remarkably, the fund holds zero Ethereum, a deliberate choice reflecting McCann’s belief that Solana had displaced Ethereum’s supercomputer thesis. His early investment in BONK, a Solana ecosystem token, generated substantial returns that provided capital for subsequent ecosystem plays including Syndica, Light Protocol, and Ranger.

McCann’s most audacious initiative materialized in mid-2025 with the proposed “Accelerate” digital asset treasury company, a SPAC-backed initiative aiming to raise $1.5 billion specifically for Solana-denominated assets. Though the SPAC ultimately terminated in August 2025, the initiative illustrated McCann’s willingness to innovate structurally around Solana’s ecosystem. Notably, Asymmetric publicly reported nearly 80% losses in the first half of 2025—substantial pain that nonetheless failed to shake his conviction.

McCann’s position represents the highest-risk, highest-conviction stance. His Wall Street credentials combined with his evident expertise make him credible; yet his concentrated bet and recent portfolio drawdowns suggest he operates as an ecosystem insider rather than a mainstream validator. His influence among traditional finance remains substantially lower than Scaramucci’s or Novogratz’s, though within the crypto industry he commands genuine respect for his commitment and consistency.

Secondary Advocates: Samani’s Peers and the Distributed Representation Model

Beyond this core group, several other figures merit consideration within Solana’s representation architecture. Chamath Palihapitiya, the Silicon Valley venture capitalist and “SPAC King,” brings substantial followers through his All-In podcast and active social media presence. However, his track record with SPACs has generated skepticism—with aggregate investor returns across his portfolio vehicles declining by 70%+ from peak valuations. His cryptocurrency focus has increasingly shifted toward artificial intelligence rather than blockchain, limiting his potential role as a Solana standard-bearer. His August 2025 SPAC announcement targeting “American Exceptionalism” included cryptographic assets only as secondary considerations within broader technological bets.

Kevin O’Leary, the “Shark Tank” personality and television finance figure, maintains cautious optimism regarding Solana’s potential. His allocation to digital assets totals approximately 11% of his personal portfolio, with Solana included within that diversified position. O’Leary’s connection to the Solana ecosystem traces partially to his historical involvement with FTX, where he received approximately $15 million in compensation before the exchange’s November 2022 collapse. While his mainstream credibility remained intact through the FTX debacle—he publicly emphasized the importance of regulatory clarity rather than disparaging the ecosystem—his support for Solana remains decidedly secondary to his advocacy for regulatory frameworks and general blockchain technology adoption.

Raoul Pal, another frequently mentioned candidate, did not appear on the list despite his long history within Solana communities, suggesting that traditional metrics of influence and conviction do not necessarily translate to effective mainstream representation roles.

The Collective Power Model: Why Solana’s Strength Exceeds Any Single Champion

The most compelling observation from this analysis is that Solana’s representation does not require a singular figure equivalent to Tom Lee. Rather, the ecosystem benefits from distributed advocacy across multiple constituencies. Anthony Scaramucci channels institutional capital and traditional finance influence. Michael Novogratz provides regulatory legitimacy and strategic positioning through a publicly traded crypto-finance firm. Kyle Samani articulates the technical thesis and venture ecosystem conviction. Joe McCann embodies the edge-case bet, pushing Solana’s potential further than consensus allows.

This multiplicity of representation actually strengthens Solana’s position. While any individual figure could falter or face credibility challenges, the collective chorus of Wall Street veterans, venture capitalists, and media personalities creates redundancy and resilience. The Solana ecosystem that emerged from its 2022-2023 downturn has cultivated advocates whose financial commitments—ranging from nine-figure holdings to concentrated portfolio strategies—ensure alignment between personal interest and public advocacy.

The community’s realization that “Solana needs its own Tom Lee” may have been slightly misdirected. Rather than requiring a single dominant voice, Solana appears to be developing something more durable: a coalition of credible, committed figures whose individual strengths address different constituencies within the broader financial ecosystem. As the blockchain continues to demonstrate technical and economic advantages, particularly in real-world asset tokenization and institutional adoption, these advocates will find an increasingly receptive audience among traditional finance decision-makers and mainstream investors seeking exposure to the next generation of blockchain infrastructure.