Solana’s 2026 blueprint shifts from merely surviving the 2022 FTX collapse to enabling on-chain finance at scale, according to core builders. Speaking at Consensus Hong Kong 2026, leaders from Jupiter, Backpack, Kamino, and DoubleZero argued that resilience from the debris of 2022 is shaping the Solana ecosystem’s future. The next phase is defined by scaling into global finance rather than price speculation.
Panelists stressed that growth hinges on improving both infrastructure and user-facing products, with value increasingly accruing to the application layer. Armani Ferrante of Backpack Exchange emphasized that the industry has a proof of concept, and the real test lies in moving traditional finance on-chain. Solana’s ecosystem, they argue, will be judged by how effectively apps deliver user experiences.
Austin Federa of DoubleZero noted that “developers keep building throughout these markets,” highlighting the importance of the engineering core. Xiao Xiao Zhu of Jupiter observed that users care more about the experience than the underlying chain, signaling that the application layer is where value and attention will concentrate. Upcoming upgrades aimed at reducing latency and improving confirmation times are expected to strengthen Solana’s position as a high-performance, general-purpose execution layer. The panel also cautioned against complacency, with Federa warning that “the worst thing you can feel in blockchain is comfortable.”
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