Bitwise CIO Matthew Hougan Calls Solana ‘the New Wall Street’

Solana is gaining attention as a top choice for blockchain investors, with Bitwise CIO Matthew Hougan dubbing it “the new Wall Street” due to its speed, throughput, and near-instant finality.

Speaking with Solana Labs’ Akshay Rajan on Oct. 2, Hougan highlighted how global financial leaders—including the heads of the SEC, the Bank of England, and BlackRock’s CEO—are increasingly recognizing the transformative potential of stablecoins and tokenized markets. He noted that investors attuned to these shifts see the scale of disruption blockchain technology could bring to payments and securities markets.

Hougan explained that when investors evaluate blockchain exposure, comparisons between platforms naturally follow. In his view, Solana’s improvements in settlement speed—from 400 microseconds to 150 microseconds—combined with high throughput, make it “extraordinarily attractive.” These features, he added, resonate with market participants accustomed to environments where execution speed and latency are critical.

Framing Solana as “the new Wall Street,” Hougan emphasized that the blockchain’s technical edge is drawing interest, predicting substantial capital flows as the narrative gains traction among institutional and retail investors.

Technical Analysis of SOL
CoinDesk Research’s technical model shows that during the 23-hour session from Oct. 3 at 15:00 UTC to Oct. 4 at 14:00 UTC, SOL traded in a narrow $8.40 range between $228.19 and $237.04, reflecting consolidation.

• The session high of $237.04 occurred around 16:00 UTC on Oct. 3, before selling pressure pushed SOL toward support at $228–$229.
• Trading volume peaked early at 3.29 million units around 17:00 UTC, gradually declining to 42,637 units by the session close, indicating waning market participation.
• In the final 60 minutes (13:11–14:10 UTC, Oct. 4), SOL broke below the $228–$229 support zone, dropping from $229.84 to $228.94 (0.39%), signaling a bearish shift.
• Within this period, an early rebound lifted the price briefly to $229.78 at 13:38 UTC, followed by renewed selling that drove it down to $228.72.
• The breakdown coincided with a volume surge, with the busiest one-minute interval at 14:01 UTC seeing 18,011 units traded, suggesting larger sellers are active and increasing the likelihood of continued downward momentum.

Hougan’s remarks and SOL’s price action together underscore Solana’s growing appeal as a high-performance blockchain platform while highlighting short-term caution as consolidation and selling pressure play out.