Product Keynote: Wormhole

For the first time in crypto history, an on-chain spot token listing has outcompeted major centralized exchanges on day one. Wormhole's Saeed Badreg delivered this landmark news at Breakpoint 2025, revealing that Solana's decentralized infrastructure has achieved what many thought impossible: matching and beating the speed, liquidity, and spreads of centralized competitors like Kraken, KuCoin, BitGet, and Gate.

Summary

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Badreg opened his keynote by addressing what he called "the Internet's original sin" — the inability to move money as easily as information. This fundamental limitation, he argued, has shaped the last 30 years of technology development and motivated 15 years of work in the cryptocurrency space to correct it. Solana, according to Badreg, is now demonstrating the tangible results of that collective effort.

The Wormhole executive painted a picture of Solana's success that goes beyond technical specifications. When other blockchain teams ask him what makes Solana special, he points to culture: rebellious engineers, unorthodox quants leaving lucrative high-frequency trading careers, unapologetic mission-driven founders, and yes, even the degens. This unique combination of participants, he explained, creates the vibrant economic activity that sets Solana apart.

The keynote focused on three critical components for blockchain economic success: how assets enter an ecosystem, how users onboard, and how capital markets form. Wormhole's data reveals that 30% of all cross-chain transfers — nearly $12 billion — end up on Solana, bringing an estimated 300,000 new users to the ecosystem this year alone. Products like Mine, integrated across major wallets including Phantom and aggregators like Jupiter, have processed over $5 billion in non-native to native asset swaps.

But the most significant revelation came with Sunrise, a new protocol that demonstrated competitive on-chain capital market formation. Using the Monad token listing as proof of concept, Sunrise brought a non-native token to Solana on minute one, day one — and the results surpassed expectations across the board.

Key Points:

The Internet's Original Sin and Crypto's 15-Year Mission

Badreg framed the entire crypto industry's work as a response to a fundamental flaw in the internet's design: the inability to move money. While information flows freely and instantly across the globe, monetary transactions have remained slow, expensive, and permission-gated. This limitation has profoundly influenced how technology companies have monetized their services and how financial systems have evolved over the past three decades.

The work of the crypto industry over 15 years has been dedicated to solving this problem. Badreg emphasized that what's happening on Solana today represents the culmination of this collective effort — decentralized systems that can finally compete with their centralized counterparts on equal footing. This isn't just about technology; it's about creating a free, transparent, and permissionless financial future that the original internet promised but couldn't deliver.

Solana's Cultural Foundation for Economic Success

When asked by other blockchain teams what makes Solana successful, Badreg resists simple technical explanations. Instead, he views each blockchain as an economy and argues that Solana's success stems from its unique culture and community composition. He identified four key groups that drive Solana's vibrancy: mission-driven engineers willing to challenge conventional approaches, quantitative traders leaving predictable careers in high-frequency trading to build better on-chain markets, founders who unapologetically pursue the vision of transparent financial systems, and an active retail community.

This cultural cocktail, Badreg suggested, creates the conditions for a thriving economy that can't be replicated simply by copying technical features. The people and their shared mission matter as much as the underlying infrastructure, and this combination gives Solana its best shot at maintaining a vibrant economic ecosystem.

Wormhole's Bridge Data: $12 Billion Flowing to Solana

Wormhole's cross-chain bridge has become a primary gateway for assets entering the Solana ecosystem. According to Badreg, 30% of all transfers through Wormhole have Solana as their destination chain, totaling approximately $12 billion in value. This isn't just abstract numbers — behind each transfer are real users, companies, and capital seeking to participate in Solana's products and markets.

The Wormhole team estimates that roughly 300,000 new users entered the Solana ecosystem in 2025 specifically to use its applications and transact in its markets. This user acquisition metric demonstrates that Solana has become a destination chain of choice for both retail and institutional participants looking to engage with decentralized finance.

Mine Protocol: $5 Billion in User Onboarding

The second pillar of blockchain economic success, according to Badreg, is efficient user onboarding. Mine protocol addresses this by enabling users to swap non-native assets into native Solana assets seamlessly. The protocol has achieved deep integration across the Solana ecosystem, powering swaps within major wallets like Phantom, Soul, Soul Flare, and Blackback, as well as DEXs like Raydium and aggregators like Jupiter.

This integration has resulted in over $5 billion in value flowing into the Solana ecosystem through Mine alone. Badreg characterized this functionality as "table stakes" — a necessary foundation for any blockchain economy that wants users to actually engage with native applications using appropriate assets.

Sunrise: The Historic Monad Token Listing

The most groundbreaking announcement centered on Sunrise, which Badreg described as "first of its kind" in demonstrating competitive on-chain capital market formation. The protocol's inaugural listing of the Monad token on Solana achieved what many believed impossible: bringing a non-native token to Solana on day one, minute one, and competing successfully with both on-chain venues and centralized exchanges.

Within the first 24 hours, Monad spot volumes on Solana through Sunrise surpassed those on Hyperliquid and even exceeded volumes on Monad's native blockchain. While Badreg noted this wasn't a criticism of Monad (which was only one day old), it powerfully demonstrated the depth and responsiveness of Solana's user base. If Solana were classified as a centralized exchange, it would have ranked in the top five for the Monad listing — ahead of established players like Kraken, KuCoin, BitGet, and Gate, all of which have user bases numbering in the millions.

The Implications for All Financial Products

Badreg emphasized that the significance of Sunrise's achievement extends far beyond crypto tokens. If an on-chain platform can compete with centralized exchanges for a cryptocurrency listing — offering tighter spreads, better liquidity, and higher volumes — the same infrastructure could theoretically handle equities, commodities, and any other financial product.

This represents a fundamental shift in what's possible for decentralized finance. Capital formation and price discovery happening on-chain in a competitive manner are prerequisites for the vision of a free, transparent, and permissionless financial system. Badreg noted that this was the first time he had witnessed an on-chain spot listing surpass centralized exchange volumes, marking a historic milestone for the industry.

Facts + Figures

• 30% of all Wormhole transfers have Solana as their destination chain
• Nearly $12 billion in total value has been bridged to Solana through Wormhole
• An estimated 300,000 new users entered the Solana ecosystem in 2025
• Mine protocol has processed over $5 billion in non-native to native asset swaps on Solana
• Monad's spot volumes on Solana surpassed Hyperliquid within 24 hours of listing
• Monad spot volumes on Solana exceeded volumes on Monad's own native blockchain on day one
• If Solana were a centralized exchange, it would have been a top 5 exchange for the Monad listing
• Solana's Monad listing outperformed Kraken, KuCoin, BitGet, and Gate exchanges
• The Monad listing on Solana achieved tighter spreads than the centralized competitors it beat
• Mine is integrated with Phantom, Soul, Soul Flare, Blackback wallets, Raydium DEX, and Jupiter aggregator
• The Monad listing was the first non-native token to achieve day one, minute one competitive listing on Solana
• This marked the first time an on-chain spot listing surpassed centralized exchange volumes

Top Quotes

"The Internet failed in one particular way and it's really affected a lot of things that have happened since. The Internet could move information but could not move money."

"If you can foster that kind of culture, you will have a lot of success."

"You've got these rebellious engineers who are mission-driven. They believe in a free financial system. They think that that's something worth pursuing."

"If Solana were a centralized exchange, it would have been a top five day one centralized exchange for the Monad listing."

"Anyone who's built decentralized technologies always knows that the centralized counterpart who has full control of the stack that's living in a data center will outcompete you with speed."

"For that to happen, on chain day one, minute one was not an easy thing to do, but Sunrise was able to do that and really demonstrate to the world that you can have on chain capital markets form on the internet."

"It beat out Kraken, it beat out KuCoin, it beat out BitGet, it beat out Gate."

"If I can demonstrate that a crypto asset can issue on chain in a decentralized way, and it can be just as competitive with the centralized counterparties, the crypto token, it can be an equity, it can be a commodity, it can be any financial product."

"If you don't have capital formation happening on chain, if you don't have price discovery happening on chain, you're never really going to create that free, transparent, permissionless financial future."

Questions Answered

What makes Solana more successful than other blockchains?

According to Wormhole's Saeed Badreg, Solana's success cannot be attributed to one or two technical features. Instead, he views Solana as an economy whose strength comes from its unique cultural composition. The ecosystem brings together mission-driven engineers willing to challenge conventional approaches, quantitative traders who've left lucrative high-frequency trading careers, unapologetic founders pursuing transparent financial systems, and an active retail community. This combination of participants creates conditions for economic vibrancy that technical specifications alone cannot replicate.

How much value has been bridged to Solana through Wormhole?

Wormhole data shows that 30% of all cross-chain transfers through the protocol end up on Solana, totaling approximately $12 billion in value. This makes Solana the leading destination chain for Wormhole users. Behind this value are an estimated 300,000 new users who entered the Solana ecosystem in 2025 specifically to access its products, markets, and services. This demonstrates Solana's position as a preferred destination for both capital and users in the broader crypto ecosystem.

What is Sunrise and why is it significant?

Sunrise is a new protocol that enables competitive on-chain capital market formation on Solana. Its significance was demonstrated through the Monad token listing, where it brought a non-native token to Solana on day one, minute one, competing head-to-head with both other on-chain venues and centralized exchanges. The listing achieved top-five centralized exchange volumes, beating established players like Kraken, KuCoin, BitGet, and Gate — a first for decentralized infrastructure competing with centralized competitors.

Can decentralized exchanges really compete with centralized exchanges?

The Monad listing on Solana through Sunrise proved that on-chain venues can now compete with and even outperform major centralized exchanges. The decentralized listing achieved tighter spreads, higher volumes, and better performance than several major centralized exchanges. This marks a historic milestone, as centralized platforms have traditionally held significant advantages in speed, liquidity, and spreads due to their controlled infrastructure. Sunrise demonstrated that these advantages can be overcome through well-designed on-chain systems.

What does Mine protocol do and how widely is it used?

Mine is a protocol that enables users to swap non-native assets into native Solana assets, serving as a critical onboarding mechanism for the ecosystem. The protocol is integrated across major Solana infrastructure including wallets like Phantom, Soul, Soul Flare, and Blackback, as well as the Raydium DEX and Jupiter aggregator. Through these integrations, Mine has processed over $5 billion in value flowing into the Solana ecosystem, making it a fundamental tool for user onboarding.

Why does the Monad listing matter for assets beyond cryptocurrencies?

Badreg emphasized that successfully competing with centralized exchanges for a crypto token listing proves that the same infrastructure could handle equities, commodities, and other financial products. If on-chain platforms can match centralized counterparties on speed, spreads, and liquidity for one asset class, the model becomes viable for any financial product. This represents a path toward the broader vision of permissionless, transparent capital markets operating entirely on the internet.

What is "the Internet's original sin" that crypto is trying to solve?

The Internet's original sin, according to Badreg, is its inability to move money as easily as information. While messages and data can flow instantly and freely across the globe, monetary transactions have remained slow, expensive, and controlled by intermediaries. The crypto industry has spent 15 years working to correct this fundamental limitation, and Solana is now demonstrating the results of that collective effort through competitive decentralized financial infrastructure.