Keynote: Galaxy (Michael Marcantonio)

Galaxy Digital, one of the largest publicly traded companies actively building on decentralized markets, has announced an ambitious suite of initiatives to move traditional finance onto Solana—including tokenizing its own NASDAQ-listed stock, partnering with State Street on a money market fund, and launching a proprietary AMM with Jump.

Summary

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Michael Marcantonio, Head of DeFi at Galaxy Digital, delivered a passionate keynote at Breakpoint 2025 outlining why the company has made such a significant commitment to Solana and decentralized finance. His thesis centers on a stark economic reality: the current financial system has failed young people, leaving millennials and Gen Z without equity, without homeownership prospects, and increasingly alienated from capitalism itself.

Rather than accepting either the status quo or radical alternatives like socialism, Marcantonio argues that DeFi represents a third path—not rejecting markets but upgrading them to be more inclusive and accessible. The stakes, he warns, are existential: if this generation cannot be brought into the economic system through decentralized markets, society faces either continued status quo or chaos.

Galaxy's strategy is to act as a "forcing function" to move the $500 trillion global securities market onto blockchain infrastructure. Solana, in Marcantonio's view, is the only blockchain capable of handling the billions of daily transactions required to warehouse global capital markets. The company is backing this conviction with concrete action: tokenizing Galaxy stock on Solana, building an on-chain prime brokerage, running major validator operations, and partnering with established institutions like State Street.

The message to builders was clear: they're not just creating faster blockchains—they're constructing a new social contract that could determine whether young people have any stake in the future economic system.

Key Points:

Galaxy Digital's Tokenized Stock on Solana

In a landmark move, Galaxy Digital has tokenized its NASDAQ-listed stock directly on Solana. This represents one of the most significant steps toward bringing traditional securities onto blockchain infrastructure. The company specifically chose Solana for this initiative because they believe it's the only blockchain with the speed and efficiency required to handle tokenized securities at scale.

This isn't merely a proof of concept—it's a live demonstration that publicly traded equities can exist on decentralized infrastructure. The implications are profound: if a major financial services company can successfully tokenize its stock on Solana, the path opens for countless other securities to follow.

State Street Partnership for Tokenized Money Market Fund

Galaxy is partnering with State Street, one of the world's largest custodian banks and asset managers, to create a tokenized money market fund on Solana. This collaboration represents traditional finance's growing interest in blockchain infrastructure and validates Solana as a serious platform for institutional products.

Money market funds are fundamental building blocks of the financial system, used by institutions and individuals alike for short-term cash management. Moving these instruments on-chain could dramatically improve efficiency, reduce settlement times, and open access to a broader range of participants.

On-Chain Prime Brokerage

Galaxy announced plans to build a prime brokerage directly on Solana—a first for any blockchain. Prime brokerages traditionally serve hedge funds and institutional investors, providing services like securities lending, leveraged trading, and consolidated clearing. Marcantonio emphasized that all the necessary components for running a prime brokerage—including risk engines—already exist on Solana.

This initiative could fundamentally change how institutional trading operates, moving from legacy systems with multi-day settlement cycles to near-instant, transparent, on-chain execution. For institutional adoption of DeFi, having a proper prime brokerage infrastructure is essential.

Jump Partnership and Prop AMM Launch

Galaxy and Jump are launching a proprietary automated market maker (AMM), building on the success of prop AMMs that have recently enabled on-chain prices to surpass centralized exchange prices like Binance for the first time. Marcantonio highlighted this as a major milestone—on-chain price discovery has finally become competitive with centralized venues.

The prop AMM will extend beyond crypto trading to potentially support on-chain token offerings and market making for equities. The goal is to provide such superior liquidity and price discovery that traders prefer Solana prices over NASDAQ prices for securities like Forward Industries stock.

Double Zero Infrastructure Investment

Galaxy operates two of the largest Solana validators and is one of the biggest Double Zero switch operators. Double Zero is a dedicated networking layer that provides private, low-latency connections for blockchain infrastructure—essential for supporting the volume and speed requirements of traditional financial markets.

Marcantonio emphasized that the $500 trillion securities market cannot be served over the public internet—just as NASDAQ doesn't operate on public networks today. Double Zero's ability to multicast state updates and reduce jitter is critical infrastructure for efficiently pricing securities, bonds, commodities, and derivatives on Solana.

Forward Industries Sponsorship

Galaxy has sponsored Forward Industries, described as the largest Solana DAT (presumably a publicly traded entity focused on Solana). This sponsorship is strategic: Forward Industries will serve as a testing ground for pushing the boundaries of what public companies can do on-chain.

One specific innovation mentioned: rather than issuing shares on NASDAQ for cash and then purchasing SOL, what if public companies could issue shares directly on-chain in exchange for SOL? This would eliminate intermediaries and dramatically improve capital efficiency for crypto-native public companies.

Facts + Figures

• Galaxy Digital is described as arguably the largest publicly traded company actively trading on decentralized markets and building on Solana

• The global securities market totals $500 trillion—this is the target market Galaxy aims to move on-chain

• Galaxy has tokenized its NASDAQ-listed stock on Solana, making it available directly on the blockchain

• Galaxy operates two of the largest Solana validators

• Galaxy is one of the largest Double Zero switch operators, running critical infrastructure routes

• Galaxy is partnering with State Street on a tokenized money market fund

• Galaxy and Jump are launching a proprietary AMM together

• For the first time in crypto history, on-chain prices are now better than Binance prices, largely due to prop AMMs

• Galaxy sponsored Forward Industries, described as the largest Solana DAT

• Galaxy is building a prime brokerage directly on Solana—the first on-chain prime brokerage

• Marcantonio argues Solana is the only blockchain capable of handling billions of transactions per day required for global capital markets

Top Quotes

"Young people have no equity in the system. Their straddle is student debt. They don't own homes. They have no prospect of owning homes. They're not starting families."

"If you have no equity, if you have no stake in the capitalist system, don't be surprised if young people reject that system and overthrow it." (Quoting Peter Thiel)

"There is a third option. And that option is decentralized finance. It's not rejecting markets. It is upgrading them. It's not rejecting capitalism. It's making capitalism more inclusive."

"You are not just building a better blockchain. You're not just building a more efficient system. You're not just building a faster blockchain. You are building a new social contract."

"Don't tell me about tick to trade. When transactions land on Solana, talk to me about tick to settlement. We're already beating the legacy financial system."

"Solana is the only blockchain from my perspective that can sustain, that can warehouse the global capital markets, that can warehouse billions of transactions a day."

"For the first time in my career in crypto, on-chain prices are better than Binance prices. It's a massive success."

"We don't have time to wait. We have to do it now. We have $500 trillion securities market that is waiting for us."

"If we don't succeed at building a better future through decentralized markets, through decentralized finance, the future for young people is going to be very bleak. It's either going to be the status quo or chaos. We are the rational middle ground."

Questions Answered

Why did Galaxy Digital choose Solana for tokenizing securities?

Galaxy chose Solana because they believe it's the only blockchain capable of handling the speed and transaction volume required for global capital markets. Marcantonio explicitly stated that warehousing the $500 trillion securities market requires a blockchain that can process billions of transactions daily. Solana's high throughput and low latency make it uniquely suited for financial applications where settlement speed matters—the company points to "tick to settlement" rather than just "tick to trade" as the relevant benchmark.

What is a prop AMM and why does it matter?

A prop AMM, or proprietary automated market maker, is a sophisticated trading system that provides liquidity and price discovery on decentralized exchanges. Galaxy and Jump are launching one together because prop AMMs have recently achieved a historic milestone: on-chain prices are now better than centralized exchange prices like Binance for the first time. This matters because it proves DeFi can compete with and surpass traditional trading venues on pure price quality, not just decentralization ideals.

How does Galaxy plan to use Forward Industries as a testing ground?

Forward Industries will serve as a "canary in the coal mine" for testing new on-chain capabilities for public companies. One specific innovation being explored is issuing shares directly on-chain in exchange for SOL, rather than the current process where companies issue shares on NASDAQ for cash and then purchase crypto. Galaxy wants to make Solana prices so competitive that traders prefer buying Forward Industries stock on Solana over NASDAQ.

What is Double Zero and why is it important for institutional finance?

Double Zero is a dedicated networking infrastructure that provides private, low-latency connections for blockchain validators and traders. Galaxy operates as one of the largest Double Zero switch operators. This infrastructure is critical because the traditional securities market doesn't run on the public internet—NASDAQ uses private networks for speed and reliability. For Solana to handle $500 trillion in securities, it needs similar dedicated infrastructure that can multicast state updates and minimize network jitter.

Why does Marcantonio frame DeFi as a solution to generational economic problems?

Marcantonio argues that the current financial system has failed young people by design—it was meant to benefit those who control it, not millennials or Gen Z who have been excluded from equity ownership, homeownership, and wealth accumulation. He frames DeFi as a "third option" between accepting this failing status quo or turning to socialism/government control. By moving markets on-chain and making them open source, young people can finally buy into and own a piece of the financial system rather than being locked out by legacy gatekeepers.

What specific institutional products is Galaxy bringing to Solana?

Galaxy is bringing several institutional products to Solana: tokenized Galaxy Digital stock (already live), a tokenized money market fund in partnership with State Street, an on-chain prime brokerage (serving institutional trading needs like securities lending and leverage), and a proprietary AMM with Jump for advanced market making. Together, these products aim to provide the full suite of services institutional traders need to operate on-chain rather than through traditional finance infrastructure.