The Solana Foundation is doubling down on one of crypto’s most capital-intensive use cases: perpetual futures. By explicitly backing teams building fully onchain perps and related derivatives, the foundation is positioning Solana as a venue where traders can execute leverage trades without relying on centralized intermediaries like Binance or dYdX. This matters because perps are the lifeblood of crypto trading volume — they generate fees, attract market makers, and create the kind of liquidity that makes a chain sticky for power users.
For the average retail reader, the appeal is straightforward: onchain perps on Solana could offer sub-second settlement and near-zero transaction costs compared to Ethereum-based alternatives, where gas fees can eat into small positions. But the risks are equally real. Fully onchain derivatives mean liquidations are automatic and irreversible, and any exploit in the smart contract could wipe out user funds. In a market currently gripped by Extreme Fear (Fear & Greed at 15), where BTC is at $60,314 and ETH at $1,582, the appetite for leveraged bets may be subdued — but infrastructure built now could capture the next wave of risk-on sentiment.
The timing is telling. With SOL reclaiming $72 but onchain data showing weakening momentum, the foundation is essentially trying to engineer a catalyst. Perps are a proven way to boost total value locked and transaction counts, which in turn supports validator revenue and network security. Meanwhile, related headlines on our site — like the CLARITY Act odds falling to 50% and Shiba Inu seeing massive 24-hour volume — underscore a market that’s searching for direction. Solana’s bet is that builders will flock