OKEx, MXC Announce $40M Investment in Solana Ecosystem

The Solana Foundation receives backing from two major industry players. 

Crypto Exchanges Back Solana 

OKEx and MXC are doubling down on Solana. 

The cryptocurrency exchanges have partnered with the Solana Foundation across two funds to nurture growth in the blockchain’s ecosystem. The funds will bring in $40 million of new capital. 

Antonaly Yakovenko, President of the Solana Foundation, told Crypto Briefing that the chain has enjoyed rapid growth, specifically in the decentralized finance space. He said: 

“Our focus is to offer the best possible experience to users, teams building on Solana, and partners in the ecosystem. The Solana Foundation will continue to support innovative new approaches to DeFi around the world.”

The $40 million sum will support the growing number of teams building on the Layer 1 chain. Projects will be able to access resources and receive help with publicity, endorsements, and marketing. 

Many promising teams have deployed their code on Solana in recent months, as the weight of Ethereum’s gas fees acts as a barrier to wider adoption. The high-speed chain can process transactions for a fraction of a cent, which is a stark contrast to Ethereum today. In February, the automated market maker Raydium launched on the platform, quickly attracting $160 million in total value locked. One recent proposal suggested that the Ethereum-native project SushiSwap could move onto Solana through Raydium.

Serum, Terra, Tether, and Chainlink, among others, already run on the chain. 

The support from two key industry players is another positive sign for Solana’s future. OKEx and MXC are two of Asia’s biggest cryptocurrency exchanges, processing billions of dollars in daily volume. Sam Bankman-Fried, advisor to Serum and one of Solana’s key advocates, told Crypto Briefing that he was “extremely excited to see some of the most important players in crypto commit to building out the most ambitious vision for Web3.” 

The exchanges will focus on assisting projects building on the chain. OKEx has called its fund the Block Dream Fund, focusing on project growth and development. According to the press release, part of MXC’s work will involve giving “guidance to projects looking to access the Asia institutional and retail markets.” 

At a market cap of just over $3.5 billion, Solana’s SOL token is currently the 29th biggest cryptocurrency. It’s trading at $13.15. 

Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this feature owned ETH and several other cryptocurrencies. They also had exposure to SUSHI in a cryptocurrency index.