Solana's President, Lily Liu, presented a bold and ambitious vision for the blockchain platform during a fireside chat at Consensus Hong Kong 2026. Her 'Internet Capital Markets' vision envisions a future where blockchains are the backbone of global financial markets, rather than just a general-purpose technology. Liu's idea is to tokenize all world assets on-chain, creating a seamless and unified marketplace for capital formation. This would enable everyday payments, high-frequency trading, and a wide range of financial activities, all accessible through a single, global platform.
Liu believes that the true strength of blockchains lies in finance and markets, not in being a utopian general-purpose tech. She highlighted the evolution of crypto's capital-raising from early ICOs to modern raises, and argued that this extensible primitive should empower non-crypto projects and companies worldwide. Liu stressed the importance of democratizing talent and capital formation, which she sees as the core societal impact of crypto.
Asia, with its Bitcoin origins and vast user/talent base, is a pivotal market for crypto, according to Liu. She advocates for revenue-focused metrics over governance tokens, insisting that real network and app usage must drive sustainable value accrual to holders. This, she believes, will ensure long-term sovereignty and opportunity for the blockchain platform.
The fireside chat also touched on the tokenization of Real-World Assets (RWAs), with Liu highlighting the current drivers such as tokenized treasuries, money market funds, and efficient collateral use by institutions. She also mentioned the next frontier, which includes tokenized equities, private credit, and illiquid assets like real estate, targeting retail demand for 24/7 fractional ownership.
