An Interview with Solana Founder Anatoly: The Development of the Encryption Ecosystem, the Impact of Stablecoins, and the Future of the Industry

Anatoly Yakovenko was born in the Soviet Union and immigrated to the United States with his parents at the age of 11. He spent the 1990s in Chicago and later studied computer science at Illinois State University. From 2004 to 2015, he worked at Qualcomm, participating in numerous mobile development projects. The inspiration for founding Solana came from a sleepless night, and six months later he pitched the idea to Sam Russo.

Anatoly believes that the encryption movement has similarities with the open-source movement, following a fixed development trajectory: from punk geeks pioneering, to entrepreneurs driving commercialization, and finally to capital taking over completely. We are currently in a transition period, with entrepreneurial teams becoming increasingly mature, and capital beginning to explore how to transform this industry.

Stablecoins are a prime example of the successful application of encryption technology. When stablecoins are backed by real assets, they could disrupt the traditional financial system. If Tether or Circle becomes the standard for programmable dollars, the United States will have to adapt to this trend. Traditional payment systems like Visa may restructure their clearing processes based on stablecoins.

Bitcoin may evolve into digital gold, mainly stemming from people's fear of uncertainty. If Bitcoin becomes a hedge tool equivalent to gold, the entire encryption market would have achieved success. Solana, on the other hand, is positioned as an efficient information transmission channel, with its value dependent on the volume of transactions processed.

Regarding meme coins, Anatoly believes this reflects people's tendency to invest in interesting things in a wealthy society. Solana generates tens of thousands of new meme coins every day, but managing this ecosystem remains a challenge.

Solana's foray into the mobile hardware sector aims to break the closed ecosystems of companies like Apple. The scarcity of encryption assets has changed the rules, creating opportunities for devices and app stores that specifically serve encryption users.

Anatoly pointed out that although crypto users account for only about 1% of the global population, their per capita earnings are much higher than ordinary internet users. He believes that crypto products may not be suitable for everyone; the key is to identify the target users.

Regarding stablecoins, Anatoly believes that the market both overemphasizes and underestimates their potential. In the absence of official support and stringent regulation, the scale of the stablecoin market has surpassed $250 billion, and this trend may accelerate. The global adoption of US dollar stablecoins may further strengthen the dominance of the dollar.

In discussing the online public opinion environment, Anatoly emphasized the importance of freedom of speech. He pointed out that being immersed in an information cocoon for a long time can lead to a disconnection between cognition and reality. Regarding the attitude of crypto punks, he stated that those who are truly angry have already left the industry, and when idealists exit, their voices also disappear.