Solana Foundation's new hires: what does it mean for SOL? The Solana Foundation just poached a Binance marketing chief and a payments veteran from Polygon Labs, betting these hires can unlock institutional deals as SOL struggles to recover. But will relationship-builders actually move the needle for token holders? This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them. The Solana Foundation, a Swiss nonprofit that supports the development of the Solana blockchain (CRYPTO:SOL), recently announced the hiring of Rachel Conlan, former marketing chief at Binance, as chief strategy officer, and Jamal Raees, a veteran from Polygon Labs, as general manager of payments. This announcement was made on September 24, 2026. The foundation believes that these new hires will help it secure partnerships with banks, asset managers, and payment companies as financial assets increasingly move to blockchain technology. Currently, Solana leads the way in tokenized stock trading, holding more tokenized stocks than any other blockchain. As of September 25, SOL was trading at $117 - a 2.7% increase for the day - yet it remains down 5.8% for the year and has fallen 39.2% over the past 12 months. So, will these new hires generate renewed interest and demand for SOL among investors? The Solana Foundation hired a marketing chief and a payments executive. Rachel Conlan brings extensive experience from her three years at Binance, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges, where she served as global chief marketing officer. Her background also includes senior positions at OKX, CAA Sports, and Havas. At Solana, she will focus on fostering institutional partnerships, driving ecosystem growth, and leading sales initiatives that attract companies to the Solana network. Jamal Raees, joining from Polygon Labs, has experience in payment systems and stablecoins from his previous work at Bridge (now part of Stripe) and Wyre. His role will involve building relationships with payment companies and businesses interested in moving funds over the Solana platform. Lily Liu, the president of the Solana Foundation, emphasized that these hires align with the foundation's vision of a "Token Supercycle," which involves transitioning money and assets to continuously operating internet networks. Because Solana's network is already equipped to handle high trading volumes, these positions will focus primarily on distribution and sales rather than technical engineering. However, specifics such as issuers, venue partners, volume targets, or settlement assets weren't disclosed, leaving stablecoins as the likely default for any institutional investments. Solana leads tokenized stocks, but the sec's new rules favor compliant venues. The foundation reports that Solana has surpassed $620 million in tokenized stocks, a lead over other blockchains. However, this advantage has largely come from offshore platforms and tracker tokens, which mimic stock prices without offering holders voting rights or formal approval from the issuing companies. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has introduced new rules - known as the Innovation Exemption - that may impact trading in tokenized stocks. Under the new regulations, tokenized stock venues must be U.S.-based, use verified wallets, grant token holders full voting and dividend rights, and give companies 30 days' notice before tokenizing their shares. START NOW: Finally! You can open a SoFi Crypto account and access 25+ cryptocurrencies without juggling apps or logins. This means that the previous lead in tokenized stocks doesn't guarantee automatic success in a more regulated environment, and $620 million still represents a small fraction of the entire U.S. stock market. The new hires may help bridge this regulatory gap, but Conlan's past association with Binance, which faced legal issues in the U.S., complicates their strategy for attracting U.S. venues, especially without an active U.S. venue license or issuers' consent. Solana also faces competition from financial institutions like Lloyds, NatWest, and Barclays, which are developing their own blockchain solutions, as demonstrated by their recent transaction of tokenized deposits on September 24. Stablecoin payments on Solana pay little to SOL holders. While Solana stands to gain from these developments, SOL holders may benefit less directly. The network attracts new users and generates fees from developers and platforms operating on Solana, especially if compliant tokenized stocks and payment solutions are implemented. For SOL holders, the main benefits come from transaction fees paid in SOL and staking incentives, which involve locking up SOL to help maintain the network. In 2026, Solana has processed over $5 trillion in stablecoin transactions according to the foundation. Despite this impressive volume, transaction fees are remarkably low, at just 0.000005 SOL per signature - less than a tenth of a cent at a SOL price of $117. As a result, stablecoin transactions generate minimal fees for SOL holders. Additionally, interest in Solana-focused investment funds has declined sharply, with inflows dropping 96% in a single week in early September. While SOL's recent price increases are noteworthy - up 14.9% over the past month and 4.1% over the past week - these gains occurred largely before the new appointments. Do the Solana Foundation's hires move SOL? At this stage, the answer seems to be no. The Solana Foundation has identified a critical challenge: attracting compliant venues, securing investor protection, and collaborating with issuers. These are relationship-focused roles that suit a strategy chief and a payments executive, yet the new hires appear to bring more expertise and connections rather than immediate investment demand for SOL itself. Any institutional investments they might attract are likely to involve stablecoins rather than boosting SOL's price directly. Without a U.S. issuer consenting to tokenize its shares on Solana or the establishment of a compliant U.S. venue on the network, the impact of these hires on SOL's value remains limited. Finally! Access 25+ cryptocurrencies the easy way. After years of waiting for a good option, SoFi now offers access to major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, along with more than 25 total digital assets. What stands out isn't just the selection, it's the integration. You don't need a separate app, a new login, or a different funding source. Crypto lives next to the rest of your portfolio, which makes position sizing, rebalancing, and capital deployment far easier for investors who actively manage risk. If you're an active investor who wants crypto exposure without stepping outside a regulated financial ecosystem, SoFi is a top choice. Get started here. (Sponsor) Sam Daodu is a crypto analyst who's spent nearly a decade making blockchain understandable - no easy task when most whitepapers read like fever dreams. He writes for 24/7 Wall St., covering Bitcoin, altcoins, and crypto market analysis for investors. Before crypto, he was a tech writer (back when explaining "the cloud" was peak innovation). Since 2018, he's written for CoinTelegraph, Yahoo Finance, The Block, Cryptonews, Zypto, Rain, and more - basically anywhere people want crypto news without the headache. Sam runs MacLabs Marketing, a content agency for crypto brands tired of sounding like AI wrote their website. He also publishes free crypto education on his site for Web3 enthusiasts who think "gas fees" is a typo. When he's not writing or staring at charts, Sam's either: - Watching anime (currently convinced One Piece has better tokenomics than most altcoins) - At the gym sculpting himself into a Greek god - Listening to the music your mum warned you only bad boys listen to Connect: LinkedIn | Email | MacLabs Marketing

AI Agents learning to Pay: the role of blockchain and public safety innovations. Published By: Antonio Robles Robles.AI Build AI That Earns Trust. AI Assistant: Felipe Mesh Building open intelligence for a new era. September 11, 2026 at 04:00 PM PDT AI payments blockchain digital assets decentralized finance public safety Table of contents. AI Agents and the payment paradigm shift. In a transformative move, AI agents are beginning to navigate the complex world of digital transactions. According to The Next Web, AI's capability to autonomously manage tasks is extending to financial transactions, a leap that could see AI-mediated commerce reach between $3 trillion and $5 trillion globally by 2030. Mastercard and companies like XDC Network are spearheading efforts to equip AI with the ability to handle these transactions without human intervention. This shift is evidenced by the introduction of Agent Pay for Machines by Mastercard, allowing AI to autonomously transact, even for micropayments. The technical backbone of this innovation lies in the adoption of blockchain technology, specifically protocols like XDC's x402. This protocol enables AI agents to interact with paid APIs by embedding a payment framework within the transaction process, bypassing traditional human-centric verification like login and card details. This is achieved by allowing AI agents access to digital wallets that can transact in stablecoins like USDC, with gas fees managed on-chain. The XDC Network integrates these capabilities with platforms like Bridge, a Stripe company, facilitating seamless transitions between fiat and cryptocurrencies. The implications of these developments are vast. Gartner predicts that by 2028, 33% of enterprise applications will incorporate agentic AI, a significant increase from less than 1% in 2024. However, the infrastructure for this autonomous commerce is still maturing. As noted by Atul Khekade, co-founder of XDC Network, "AI Agents are breaking the assumption that a person needs to be on the other end of a transaction." This evolution is likely to redefine how digital services are consumed and paid for, emphasizing speed and micro-transactions. From my perspective, this evolution in AI and blockchain integration is a critical trend to watch. The ability of AI to autonomously handle payments could disrupt traditional financial systems, much like how decentralized finance (DeFi) has reshaped financial services. The race to develop robust AI payment systems could set the stage for a new era of digital commerce, where trust is algorithmically determined, and transactions occur at machine speed. Coinbase's strategic expansion and the 'everything Exchange' Coinbase Global has been making significant strides in expanding its operations beyond traditional cryptocurrency trading. As reported by MarketBeat, Coinbase's CFO Alesia Haas outlined their strategic direction at a Citi Research conference, emphasizing the development of an 'Everything Exchange.' This initiative aims to encompass trading across multiple asset classes, including spot crypto, derivatives, and even tokenized equities for international customers. Technologically, Coinbase is leveraging its Base blockchain network to enable innovative financial products like agentic payments and tokenized equities. The Base network supports the integration of blockchain-based assets, allowing for more transparent and secure transactions. This move is complemented by their efforts to diversify revenue streams through new products such as prediction markets, which have shown promising traction among existing users. The prediction markets leverage crypto binary contracts, enabling users to speculate on short-term price movements without directly trading the asset. The implications for Coinbase are profound. By expanding its product suite, Coinbase is positioning itself to capture a larger share of the evolving digital asset market. Their approach is not only diversifying revenue but also aligning with broader regulatory clarity, as highlighted by Haas. The company's alignment with digital asset regulation, including the anticipated Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, underscores its commitment to staying at the forefront of the industry. This strategic alignment could offer Coinbase a competitive edge, particularly as it navigates the complexities of regulatory compliance across different jurisdictions. From a broader perspective, Coinbase's expansion into an 'Everything Exchange' reflects a growing trend among crypto platforms to diversify and integrate more traditional financial products. This hybrid approach could redefine the landscape of digital finance, bridging the gap between traditional and decentralized finance. Digital Asset regulation and the Clarity Act. The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act is poised to bring significant changes to the regulatory landscape for digital assets in the United States. Treasury Secretary Bessent has been vocal about the need for this legislation, which aims to define the classification of digital assets and streamline regulatory oversight across agencies like the SEC and CFTC. As reported by Naturalnews.com, the bill has gained bipartisan support in the House and is set for a crucial Senate vote. The technical framework of the Clarity Act involves designating digital assets as either securities or commodities, thereby clarifying which federal body has jurisdiction. This distinction is crucial for reducing the current regulatory ambiguity that has been a hurdle for digital asset firms operating in the U.S. The Act also proposes the formation of a joint advisory committee to facilitate coordination between the SEC and CFTC, potentially paving the way for more coherent regulatory policies. The passage of the Clarity Act could have far-reaching implications for the digital asset industry. As Bessent emphasized, "Failing to pass the Act would signal to our allies and adversaries that America is unwilling to lead on the future of digital assets." The Act is expected to foster innovation by providing legal certainty, thus encouraging investment and development within the U.S. Furthermore, it could prevent the exodus of digital asset firms seeking more favorable regulatory environments abroad. In my view, the Clarity Act represents a pivotal moment for the U.S. digital asset industry. The Act's potential to provide a clear regulatory framework could not only bolster domestic innovation but also affirm the U.S.'s leadership position in the global digital asset arena. As other regions, like the EU, advance their digital frameworks, the timely implementation of the Clarity Act could be a game-changer. Where Robles.AI fits. At Robles.AI, Robles.AI is particularly aligned with the technological advancements discussed in these articles, especially in AI and blockchain integrations. Its expertise in developing decentralized AI systems positions Robles.AI to contribute significantly to the evolving landscape of AI-driven payments. By harnessing the capabilities of AI and blockchain, Robles.AI can enhance transparency and trust in digital transactions, much like the developments discussed with XDC Network's x402 protocol. Furthermore, its focus on agentic AI aligns with Coinbase's strategic direction towards an 'Everything Exchange.' By integrating AI to manage and optimize trading strategies, Robles.AI can offer innovative solutions that cater to the diversified financial products Coinbase is developing. Its commitment to ensuring regulatory compliance through transparent AI models also complements the objectives of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. As digital asset regulation evolves, its robust AI solutions are designed to adapt and ensure compliance with new frameworks, supporting firms in navigating these changes smoothly. Robles.AI's ability to integrate advanced AI with decentralized systems positions Robles.AI as a valuable partner in this rapidly transforming market landscape. #AIagents #Coinbase #XDCNetwork #ClarityAct #911advancements Sources. Tokens used: Prompt 7075, Completion 3667, Total 10742