TheBlock
The Solana Foundation appointed Rachel Conlan as chief strategy officer and Jamal Raees as general manager of payments as it targets deeper institutional adoption and broader payments activity. Solana says the network has processed more than $5 trillion in stablecoin volume this year, while real-world assets have surpassed $4.5 billion and tokenized equity supply has crossed $620 million.
Why it matters
Conlan will lead strategy across institutional partnerships and ecosystem growth after three years at Binance and earlier leadership roles at OKX, CAA Sports and Havas. Raees joins from Polygon Labs and will work with payment companies, enterprises and the wider ecosystem to expand Solana's use as global payments infrastructure.
The appointments give the foundation separate leadership for two areas that are central to its institutional case: bringing financial firms onto the network and turning existing network activity into business payment use. Solana Foundation President Lily Liu described the broader strategy as a long-term migration of money, assets and ownership onto always-on internet infrastructure.
Market impact
The reported stablecoin, real-world asset and tokenized equity figures give investors concrete measures for tracking whether Solana's institutional strategy is translating into network activity. The foundation has also partnered with SBI Holdings on a Japan-based onchain financial market and launched a pay-as-you-go system for AI agents with Google Cloud.
Conlan said the next challenge is moving businesses from interest to implementation. For Solana, the new leadership structure puts institutional relationships and payments execution at the center of that effort, while the network's existing asset and stablecoin volumes provide the operating base.
Frequently asked questions
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Who did the Solana Foundation appoint to lead its institutional and payments push?
Rachel Conlan became chief strategy officer, while Jamal Raees became general manager of payments.
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What is Rachel Conlan responsible for at the Solana Foundation?
Conlan will lead strategy across institutional partnerships and ecosystem growth.
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What will Jamal Raees work on at Solana?
Raees will work with payment companies, enterprises and the broader ecosystem to expand Solana's use as global payments infrastructure.
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What network activity figures did the Solana Foundation report?
Solana says it has processed more than $5 trillion in stablecoin volume this year. Real-world assets surpassed $4.5 billion and tokenized equity supply crossed $620 million.
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Which other institutional and technology initiatives has Solana announced?
The foundation partnered with SBI Holdings on a Japan-based onchain financial market and launched a pay-as-you-go system for AI agents with Google Cloud.
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