Solana news

The Solana Foundation has launched a new developer platform aimed at helping financial institutions build products on its blockchain. The platform bundles infrastructure from over 20 partners into an API-driven interface to simplify enterprise adoption. Mastercard, Western Union, and Worldpay are early users, applying the platform to stablecoin settlement, cross-border transfers, and merchant payments respectively. The platform is currently in a test version, with full availability expected later in 2026.

The Solana Foundation has launched the Solana Developer Platform (SDP), a toolkit designed to help financial institutions build blockchain-based products without requiring deep crypto expertise. Early users include Mastercard, Western Union, and Worldpay. SDP bundles services from over 20 infrastructure providers into a single interface, offering modules for token issuance and payments, with a trading module expected in 2026. The platform integrates AI tools like Anthropic's Claude Code and OpenAI's Codex. Mastercard is exploring stablecoin settlement on Solana, Western Union is testing cross-border payments, and Worldpay is focusing on merchant settlement and tokenized assets, highlighting growing institutional interest in blockchain-based financial solutions.

Mastercard, Western Union, and Worldpay are early users of the Solana Foundation's new enterprise development platform, an AI-powered toolbox for building on the blockchain. The Solana Developer Platform (SDP) offers tools for launching real-world assets and payments technologies, with Mastercard using it to expand stablecoin operations and Western Union to modernize cross-border money transfers. SDP includes API modules for token issuance, payments, and trading, supported by over 20 infrastructure partners for compliance and onramping needs. The move reflects growing institutional interest in tokenization and stablecoins, with Solana aiming to capture more of the real-world assets market.

The Solana Foundation has launched the Solana Developer Platform (SDP), a new platform for enterprise developers to build on its blockchain, with early users including Mastercard, Worldpay, and Western Union. The platform focuses on real-world asset tokenization and includes modules for issuance, payments, and trading. This move aims to attract more enterprises to Solana, positioning it in a competitive market against established players like Ethereum, Consensys, and Ripple, which also target institutional blockchain solutions.

The Solana Foundation has released a report advocating for a customizable privacy framework aimed at institutional adoption. It argues that enterprises need control over what transaction data is revealed and to whom, moving beyond crypto's traditional transparency. The framework presents privacy as a spectrum with four modes: pseudonymity, confidentiality, anonymity, and fully private systems using techniques like zero-knowledge proofs. This allows companies to mix tools based on needs, such as hiding transaction amounts or proving compliance without disclosing details. The report emphasizes that privacy can coexist with regulation through features like auditor keys for decryption and compliance verification. It claims Solana's speed makes these advanced privacy methods practical for real-world use cases like encrypted order books or private credit risk calculations.

Backpack Exchange launched its native BP token on Solana, with a 25% airdrop to users and no initial allocation to insiders. The token's 1 billion supply includes mechanisms for equity conversion and milestone-based unlocks tied to company growth and potential IPO plans.

Solana Foundation President Lily Liu declared that blockchain gaming is effectively dead, referencing recent doubts after Meta scaled back its metaverse plans and noting that billions poured into the sector have not yielded sustainable user bases or token value, with GameFi tokens collapsing since the 2021 boom. Despite Liu’s verdict, some developers persist. Mythical Games continues to release branded mobile titles, while Gunzilla’s shooter Off the Grid lets players enjoy a free‑to‑play battle royale without mandatory NFT interaction, highlighting a shift toward optional blockchain features.

Solana’s DApps revenue fell to an 18‑month low of $22 million, down from $36 million two months earlier, while SOL perpetual futures funding rates hovered near 0%, indicating weak long demand and a put‑call skew that favors puts. The bearish derivatives signal adds to the broader decline in DApps revenue across chains. Competition from Hyperliquid and other synthetic‑derivative platforms now captures over 80% of perpetual‑contract volume, reducing demand for SOL contracts. With SOL trading around $89 and a $51 billion market cap—a 42% discount to BNB—weak on‑chain activity suggests a delayed price recovery above $110.

The SEC issued interpretive guidance that sorts crypto assets into five categories—digital commodities, collectibles, tools, stablecoins and digital securities—and declares commodities, collectibles and tools non‑securities. This narrows the SEC’s reach and avoids a broker‑dealer regime that would have forced developers and software providers into heavy KYC/AML compliance. The rule places Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Cardano, XRP and similar networks in the digital‑commodity bucket, treats proof‑of‑work, proof‑of‑stake, staking receipts and wrapped tokens as non‑securities, and exempts payment stablecoins issued under the GENIUS Act. Privacy‑focused projects gain a clearer, narrower regulatory space, while the CFTC pledged to apply the Commodity Exchange Act in line with the SEC’s view.

Solana, known for its memecoin activity, is gaining institutional adoption with over 200 tokenized stocks and ETFs from Ondo, WisdomTree's tokenized funds, and payment integrations from Visa, PayPal, and Worldpay. The network processed $650 billion in stablecoin transactions in February 2026, supporting its role as a financial rail despite its speculative reputation. Institutional players are leveraging Solana's fast settlement and low fees for capital markets and payments, with regulatory developments like the FDIC's technology-neutral stance easing adoption. However, the network's tokenized assets, at $1.84 billion, trail Ethereum's $15.6 billion, and the outcome depends on whether institutions prioritize infrastructure over brand concerns.