Are DATs Bullish For Solana? | Carlos Gonzalez Campo
🎯 Summary
Podcast Episode Summary: Are DATs Bullish For Solana? | Carlos Gonzalez Campo
This 56-minute episode of Light Speed with host Jack Cuberanek and guest Carlos Gonzalez Campo of Blockworks Research focuses heavily on the emerging trend of Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) targeting Solana, and the potential impact of these large treasury vehicles on the SOL asset. The discussion also touches upon the regulatory landscape concerning liquid staking tokens and the broader narrative required for Solana’s institutional adoption.
1. Focus Area
The primary focus is Crypto/Web3, specifically analyzing the Solana ecosystem’s development, the DAO treasury trend (mirroring Ethereum’s recent activity), and the institutionalization of Solana assets through proposed ETFs and large capital pools.
2. Key Technical Insights
- LSD Efficiency for ETFs: The proposed VanEck Gido SOL ETF, utilizing the liquid staking derivative (LSD) Gido SOL instead of naked SOL plus a third-party staking provider, is technically superior. It allows for greater operational efficiency, potentially higher staking yields for investors, and fewer taxable events compared to traditional staking ETF structures.
- DAO Active Involvement: Unlike passive ETFs, DAOs can be actively involved in the network’s growth—for example, by voting on governance proposals (like Curve supporting Alpenglow) and launching integrated DeFi products (like LSDs), pushing adoption forward.
- Regulatory Clarity on LSDs: The SEC’s recent stance suggesting that liquid staking tokens are not securities is a crucial development that clears the path for more complex, yield-bearing financial products like the Gido SOL ETF.
3. Market/Investment Angle
- DAO Buying Pressure: The emergence of massive Solana DAOs (including a potential $1 billion vehicle from Galaxy/Multicoin) is expected to create a significant, sustainable stream of buying pressure for SOL, similar to what was observed in Ethereum.
- Frothiness Indicator: The speed at which Ethereum DAOs accumulated 1% of the ETH supply (40 days, compared to Michael Saylor’s 3.5 years for BTC) signals that the market is currently “quite hot” and potentially frothy.
- Solana ETF Landscape: The filing for a Gido SOL ETF suggests institutional interest is broadening beyond just the base asset, but there is an open question regarding investor preference between a Gido SOL-specific ETF versus a standard SOL ETF.
4. Notable Companies/People
- Galaxy Jump & Multicoin: Leading the proposed $1 billion Solana DAO treasury vehicle, indicating significant institutional backing for Solana ecosystem growth.
- Sharp’s Technology: Co-founders of the Jambo phone are launching a $400 million private placement DAO, with the Solana Foundation agreeing to sell $15 million in SOL at a 15% discount to support the effort.
- Solana Foundation: Increasingly involved in supporting these DAO efforts, suggesting a strategic pivot to embrace the DAO trend as a major price driver.
- Tom Lee/Michael Saylor: Used as benchmarks for successful “cheerleaders” who bridge the gap between crypto technology and TradFi narratives.
- Kyle Samani (Multicoin) & Mike Novogratz: Mentioned as potential, though perhaps obvious, candidates to become Solana’s primary TradFi evangelist/figurehead.
- Gido: Highlighted for their persistent efforts in lobbying the SEC to enable the Gido SOL LSD ETF structure.
5. Regulatory/Policy Discussion
The discussion noted the legal ambiguity surrounding insider trading in crypto, referencing the recent DOJ case against Coinbase employees. More importantly, the SEC’s apparent decision that liquid staking tokens are not securities is viewed as a significant regulatory win that directly enables the Gido SOL ETF filing.
6. Future Implications
The conversation suggests that Solana is next in line for the “DAO craze” that has benefited Ethereum. The ecosystem needs a strong, credible TradFi figurehead (a “Solana Tom Lee”) to effectively communicate its value proposition—fast, cheap, developer-friendly—to institutional audiences and combat the misconception that Solana is purely a “meme coin chain.” The involvement of major funds in DAOs signals a serious, coordinated effort to institutionalize Solana.
7. Target Audience
This episode is most valuable for Crypto/Web3 Professionals, Institutional Investors, DeFi Strategists, and Solana Ecosystem Participants who need to understand capital flow dynamics, emerging treasury structures, and the path to broader institutional adoption for Layer 1 blockchains.
🏢 Companies Mentioned
đź’¬ Key Insights
"I think a lot of people... I'm always... It sets off alarm bells for me when people who are in very speculative sectors start talking about community, because your community should be your buds that you hang out with. Your community should not be people who want to use you as their exit liquidity."
"I think their primary focus should be on the product side, like owning the front end, because you've seen platforms like Axiom, which are just trading platforms, actually have a moat..."
"It sets off alarm bells for me when people who are in very speculative sectors start talking about community, because your community should be your buds that you hang out with. Your community should not be people who want to use you as their exit liquidity."
"No, yeah, I agree with you. I think their primary focus should be on the product side, like owning the front end, because you've seen platforms like Axiom, which are just trading platforms, actually have a moat, and it doesn't matter whether tokens are launched on Pump.fun or Bonk.fun or on Heaven DEX."
"after the whole Bonk.fun phase, it demonstrated that Pump.fun doesn't really have a moat. It's not that hard to spin up basically an identical product, get the power users to switch over with incentives or something..."
"Sunday, 91.6% of launchpad revenue went to Pump.fun, Bonk.fun with 0.09%, not even cracking 1% these days on the overall Solana launchpad revenue."