Speaking at the Solana Breakpoint conference in Amsterdam, Anatoly Yakovenko shared how concerned he was about several projects based on the Solana blockchain. Immediately after FTX s bankruptcy proceedings began, the SOL cryptocurrency dropped significantly in value: back in early November it was trading for $36, but a few days later the rate dropped to $12. However, the SOL is now showing astonishing growth, with the price up almost 90% in the last 30 days. The coin jumped to $46.90 this week.
Yakovenko acknowledged that the sharp drop in the SOL rate due to the FTX collapse was a “bitter pill to swallow,” but those unpleasantries pale in comparison to the damage that has been done to ecosystem projects. About 20% of Solana-based projects received investment from crypto exchange FTX or its subsidiary Alameda Research, and only 5% of ecosystem startups held funds on this trading platform. Yakovenko sympathized with the project creators who worked hard to raise capital and trusted FTX as the custodian of the funds.
“Imagine: you stored capital on an exchange that everyone seemed to trust, and bang, it’s gone. Falling rates sure suck, but cryptocurrencies move up and down all the time. What hurt the most was that crypto project teams saw their runway just evaporate. I am pleased that the vast majority of Solana-based projects have survived,” Yakovenko said.
Former FTX chief Sam Bankman-Fried has always praised the Solana blockchain, noting its ability to quickly process large numbers of transactions with low fees