Solana news: Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan compares Solana’s growth to Bitcoin

Bitwise’s chief investment officer Matt Hougan is betting big on Solana, noting that it could mirror Bitcoin’s early growth.

Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer of Bitwise, has drawn parallels between Solana’s growth potential and Bitcoin’s long-term trajectory in a recent post that’s sparked discussion across the crypto space. In a detailed thread on X, the Bitwise executive laid out a dual-bet framework, explaining why he remains “bullish on Solana.”

According to Hougan, successful crypto investments often present “two ways to win.” For Bitcoin ( BTC ), this means benefiting from both the growth of the global store-of-value market and Bitcoin increasing its market share within that segment. 

He applied the same lens to Solana ( SOL ), noting that investors could profit from the expansion of the stablecoin and tokenization infrastructure sector as well as Solana’s growing dominance within it.

The Bitwise CIO emphasized that Solana is currently one of the most promising Layer 1 blockchain contenders, competing with Ethereum ( ETH ), Binance Smart Chain, and Tron in a combined market segment valued at over $768 billion. Solana’s current share stands at approximately 14%, giving it ample room to grow if the market expands, Hougan predicted.

Bitwise’s Matt Hougan references institutional adoption of Solana 

While Ethereum remains the leader in the tokenization space, Hougan believes Solana is gaining ground quickly. He pointed to Solana’s advantages, including fast transaction speeds, a thriving developer ecosystem, and increasing institutional adoption. Notably, he mentioned Western Union’s recent decision to build a stablecoin project on Solana, a sign that real-world companies are warming up to its technical edge.

The Bitwise executive concluded his tweet saying that Solana’s momentum could mirror Bitcoin’s early growth. “If I’m right, the combination of a growing market and a growing market share will be explosive for Solana. Just as with bitcoin,” he noted.

Meanwhile, Matt Hougan’s endorsement comes shortly after Bitwise launched the first U.S. spot Solana ETF, which saw over $69.45 million in first-day inflows, adding further weight to the growing institutional interest in the Solana ecosystem.  

Comparatively, Solana has a long way to go to match Bitcoin. While the former has a market cap of 102 billion, BTC boasts a valuation of 2.19 trillion, about 200% more. SOL is currently trading below the $190 mark as it battles to break out of a downtrend that has kept it in a tight range for over a month.