Bitwise CIO Sees “Epic” Year-End Rally For Solana, Here’s Why

Matt Hougan, the CIO of Bitwise, believes Solana is set for a strong finish to the year.

Drawing on trends from Bitcoin and Ethereum, Hougan notes two key factors that have driven major crypto gains. Dive deeper to explore how Solana could be the next one in the race. 

What’s the Formula Behind Crypto Rallies?

Hougan notes in a latest memo that over the past 18 years, crypto gains have followed a clear recipe: strong inflows from ETPs plus corporate treasury purchases. Bitcoin jumped from $40,000 in January 2024 to $112,000 currently and Ethereum has tripled to $4,500 since April 2025.

Since January 2024, 322,681 BTC were created, but over 1 million were bought by ETPs and companies. Similarly, 388,568 ETH were minted since April 2025, with 7.4 million purchased.

Hougan says Solana now has similar conditions in place.

Solana ETFs Await SEC Approval

Institutional demand for Solana is on the rise. 

Several asset managers, including Bitwise, Grayscale, VanEck, Fidelity and Invesco/Galaxy, have filed to launch spot Solana ETPs. The SEC is expected to make a decision by October 10, 2025, which could open the door to a wave of new investment products in the fourth quarter.

Solana leads the ETF race with 16 filings, among the 96 crypto ETF applications waiting for a decision.

Major Investments Boost SOL

Recently Galaxy Digital, Jump Crypto, and Multicoin Capital committed $1.65 billion to a publicly traded Solana treasury company, Forward Industries. The firm plans to buy, stake, and generate returns on SOL. 

Kyle Samani, co-founder of Multicoin Capital, will chair Forward Industries. Hougan shared that Samani is a long time Solana advocate. If he promotes Solana like Saylor and Tom Lee did for BTC and ETH, this would “help drive the flywheel of investor demand.”

Public Companies Hold Near $1B SOL

Institutional exposure to Solana is already increasing. SOL Strategies, a Solana-focused investment company, recently listed on Nasdaq under the ticker STKE, debuting with $94 million in Solana holdings.

CoinGecko data shows publicly traded entities now hold 4.44 million SOL worth nearly $1 billion.

Why Solana Stands Out

However, he notes that just having an ETP or a treasury company is not enough to attract investors. There needs to be a fundamental reason to buy.

Solana, an Ethereum rival, offers faster, cheaper transactions for stablecoins, tokenized assets, and DeFi apps. A new upgrade slashes transaction times to 150 milliseconds, making it one of the fastest and most user-friendly blockchains.

While critics note that Solana trades some decentralization for speed, Solana is growing fast. Advocates argue that Solana’s speed positions it as the only blockchain that can manage asset tokenization at a global scale. 

Solana’s Size- A Market Advantage

Hougan also pointed out that even small inflows could have an outsized impact on Solana’s price because of its smaller size. He notes that Forward Industries’ planned $1.65 billion Solana purchase would have a market impact roughly equal to a $33 billion Bitcoin purchase.

Despite the challenges of a higher inflation environment, Hougan considers Solana’s setup attractive and worth keeping a close eye on as 2025 comes to a close.