Ship or Die at Accelerate 2025: Fireside Chat with Jeremy Allaire, Anatoly Yakovenko, and Dan Albert

In a groundbreaking fireside chat at Accelerate 2025, Circle's Jeremy Allaire and Solana's Anatoly Yakovenko reveal their vision for the future of blockchain technology and internet capital markets. The discussion unveils exciting developments in stablecoin adoption, blockchain scalability, and the potential for a truly decentralized financial system.

Summary

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The fireside chat between Jeremy Allaire, Anatoly Yakovenko, and moderator Dan Albert at Accelerate 2025 provided a comprehensive look at the evolution of blockchain technology and its impact on the financial world. The discussion began with a reflection on the early days of Solana and Circle's collaboration, highlighting the importance of USDC's launch on Solana in 2020.

Both leaders emphasized the critical role of stablecoins in enabling developers and applications to take risks and innovate within the digital platform. They discussed the current state of blockchain adoption, noting that the infrastructure now exists to support hundreds of millions of users for various applications.

The conversation then shifted to the future of internet capital markets and the on-chain economy. Allaire and Yakovenko shared their visions for a world where financial transactions are more efficient, transparent, and accessible to all. They highlighted the potential for blockchain technology to dramatically reduce the costs and friction associated with traditional financial processes, such as IPOs.

Key Points:

Early Days of Solana and USDC

Anatoly Yakovenko recounted the humble beginnings of Solana, describing how he demonstrated the network's capabilities to Circle from his small apartment. The ability to confirm transactions in 1.2 seconds with sub-penny fees was a significant improvement over Ethereum's performance at the time.

Jeremy Allaire explained Circle's vision of reducing the marginal cost of storing and moving value to zero through dollar digital currency on blockchains. Solana's technology aligned perfectly with this goal, offering the potential to handle a wide range of payment transactions, from micro-payments to multi-billion dollar capital markets transactions.

Current State of Blockchain Adoption

Both leaders agreed that blockchain infrastructure has reached a point where it can support mainstream applications for hundreds of millions of users. They noted improvements in user experience, including the ability to handle cross-chain primitives and sponsored gas fees, which simplify the process for end-users.

Allaire highlighted the importance of legal certainty, mentioning the Genius Act in the United States as a significant step towards recognizing stablecoins as a legitimate part of the global financial system. This regulatory clarity is expected to unlock massive potential for on-chain money to become "the best money in the world."

The Future of Internet Capital Markets

Yakovenko emphasized the role of blockchain in reducing financial risk through transparency and verifiability. He explained how improvements in network speed and capacity directly translate to expanded capabilities for financial applications and reduced risk for market participants.

Allaire outlined his vision for internet capital markets, which includes the creation of base primitives for government obligation money and real-time convertibility between different assets. He expressed particular interest in "endogenous capital markets" that are native to the on-chain economy, such as internet-scale credit markets that could operate more efficiently than traditional systems.

Democratizing Financial Markets

Yakovenko shared his "north-star litmus test" for the future of internet capital markets: the ability for a founder to conduct an IPO entirely through smart contracts on a public, permissionless blockchain. This vision would dramatically reduce costs and friction in the process, potentially leading to more companies going public and greater public participation in value creation.

Facts + Figures

• Solana Network launched in early 2020
• Circle launched USDC on Solana later in 2020
• In 2025, record levels of stablecoins are being minted on Solana
• Transaction volumes for payments, remittances, and DeFi on Solana are at all-time highs
• The global electronic money market is over $90 trillion
• Traditional IPO costs can reach $25 million
• The Genius Act in the United States is progressing towards becoming federal law
• Blockchain infrastructure can now support hundreds of millions of users
• Solana can confirm transactions in 1.2 seconds with sub-penny fees
• The vision is to reduce the marginal cost of storing and moving value to zero

Top quotes

1. "Having an asset that is extremely low risk in a digital platform and a smart contract platform is what allows developers and applications and protocols and everything else to take more risk." - Anatoly Yakovenko

2. "Our vision was always that over time, with dollar digital currency on blockchains, the kind of marginal cost of storing and moving value would go to zero." - Jeremy Allaire

3. "The purpose of blockchain is, or why they're successful, is that they remove risk. They actually make finance less risky." - Anatoly Yakovenko

4. "We're now seeing these abstractions that basically allow people to deliver UXs, where you can instantiate an experience. You can have kind of sponsored gas. And you can kind of use cross-chain primitives that exist now as well to take away a lot of that complexity for users." - Jeremy Allaire

5. "I somehow got really lucky as an engineer that I get to work on a fundamental physics problem and every time we get an improvement, it actually expands, makes the product better, expands how much stuff you can do on the network and the kind of finance and financial applications you can build." - Anatoly Yakovenko

Questions Answered

What was the significance of USDC launching on Solana in 2020?

The launch of USDC on Solana in 2020 was a critical moment for both platforms. It provided Solana with a low-risk asset that enabled developers and applications to take more risks and innovate within the ecosystem. For Circle, Solana's high-speed, low-cost infrastructure aligned perfectly with their vision of reducing the marginal cost of storing and moving value to near zero. This collaboration set the stage for the rapid growth and adoption of both Solana and USDC in the years that followed.

How has blockchain infrastructure improved since 2020?

Since 2020, blockchain infrastructure has made significant strides in scalability and user experience. As of 2025, platforms like Solana can support hundreds of millions of users for various applications. Improvements in cross-chain compatibility, sponsored gas fees, and overall user interface design have made blockchain technology more accessible to mainstream users. Additionally, regulatory clarity, such as the progress of the Genius Act in the United States, has paved the way for greater adoption of stablecoins and blockchain-based financial services.

What is the vision for internet capital markets?

The vision for internet capital markets involves creating a fully digital, transparent, and efficient system for financial transactions and asset ownership. This includes developing base primitives for government obligation money, enabling real-time convertibility between different assets, and creating endogenous capital markets native to the on-chain economy. The ultimate goal is to dramatically reduce costs and friction in financial processes, such as IPOs, allowing for greater participation in value creation and a more democratized financial system.

How does blockchain technology reduce financial risk?

Blockchain technology reduces financial risk through increased transparency and verifiability. By providing robust settlement guarantees and allowing users to examine smart contract code, blockchain platforms eliminate many of the uncertainties present in traditional financial systems. The speed and cost-efficiency of networks like Solana further reduce risk for market makers and traders by providing predictable transaction times and fees. This reduction in risk allows for the expansion of financial applications and the ability to handle larger volumes of transactions securely.

What is the "north-star litmus test" for future internet capital markets?

Anatoly Yakovenko's "north-star litmus test" for future internet capital markets is the ability for a founder to conduct an IPO entirely through smart contracts on a public, permissionless blockchain. This vision would involve replacing traditional intermediaries with transparent, immutable software, dramatically reducing the costs and time associated with going public. Such a system would potentially allow more companies to access public markets and increase overall public participation in value creation, leading to a more dynamic and inclusive economy.