Written by Christina Comben, Staff Editor. Reviewed by Bryan O'Shea, Staff Editor. Solana ecosystem expands institutional push with Europe-focused research arm
Solana is launching a Swiss-based research institute and practitioner guide to help European financial institutions evaluate its blockchain as regulatory clarity and onchain usage grow.
Solana is launching a Swiss-based research body to help financial firms interpret evolving crypto regulations, as competition intensifies between public blockchains and permissioned networks for institutional adoption.
The Solana Research Institute (SRI), founded by former Euroclear executive Angus Scott, is debuting alongside a roughly 60-page report aimed at senior financial practitioners evaluating the network, according to a Thursday release shared with Cointelegraph. Contributors include the Solana Foundation, Jito, R3 and Figment.
The initiative is designed to help institutions navigate frameworks such as Europe’s Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCA) framework and the United States’ Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, as regulatory clarity begins to shape how firms engage with digital assets.
The move is part of Solana’s broader push to expand its role in institutional markets, following the 2025 launch of the Solana Policy Institute in Washington. While that effort focused on policymakers, SRI targets firms assessing operational, risk and market structure considerations that have slowed adoption of public blockchains among regulated institutions.
Ben Brophy, head of institutional growth in Europe at the Solana Foundation, told Cointelegraph that SRI aims to help institutions move from experimentation to deployment, bringing “credible analysis and informed dialogue to the forefront.”
Stablecoins, RWAs and incumbents
The launch comes as Solana reports rising usage across tokenized assets and stablecoins, including $650 billion in stablecoin transfer volume in February and more than $2 billion in tokenized real-world assets in March, according to network data.
Related: Ethereum Foundation unstakes 17K ETH after nearing 70K staked ETH milestone
Still, Ethereum continues to host the deepest onchain liquidity, with over $165 billion in stablecoins and the largest total value locked among public networks in decentralized finance at around $44 billion, compared to just over $5 billion on Solana, according to DefiLlama data.
Chains TVL percentage. Source: DeFiLlama
Permissioned infrastructure is also advancing. Canton Network materials say applications on the permissioned network now account for more than $6 trillion in tokenized assets, including large repurchasing agreements and securities positions, reflecting ongoing demand for privacy-preserving rails among regulated institutions.
Related: BitGo expands Canton Coin services with trading, onchain settlement
Scott cited increased institutional participation in blockchain over the past 12 months, in the release, calling the shift “significant.” SRI says that it has convened closed-door sessions in London with participants from institutions including State Street and the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, highlighting early engagement from traditional finance.
Execution, infrastructure and remaining gaps
For infrastructure providers, the next phase is likely to depend on execution quality and market structure. Jito, a contributor to Solana’s staking and transaction pipeline, said institutions are increasingly focused on determinism, pre-trade privacy and best execution guarantees.
“There has been a substantial shift from ‘is this viable?’ to detailed requirements-gathering around execution quality, market structure and operational risk,” Nick Almond, head of governance at Jito Foundation, told Cointelegraph, adding that regulatory clarity in the US and Europe is driving more concrete engagement.
Still, challenges remain. Almond said many institutions are holding back until they are satisfied with the maturity of custody, reporting and venue connectivity infrastructure around public chains, areas he said are still in the “requirements-building” phase across the ecosystem.