Multicoin Capital co-founder Samani expects SOL to surpass Ether’s market capitalization “this market cycle” and argues that “today, no one really uses Ethereum.”
Multicoin Capital co-founder Kyle Samani predicts more crypto companies will choose to build on Solana over Ethereum due to its ease of use and greater functionality.
Solana will flip Ether during “this market cycle,” Samani told Cointelegraph during an episode of Trade Secrets, predicting that Ethereum may gradually lose its edge as the default smart contract network choice for crypto companies.
“They’ll all switch their default over to Solana because it’s the most functional network for all of them and it’s just easier to consolidate their operations around Solana to the extent that they can.”
Samani and Multicoin amassed a sizable early position in Solana and he has been one of its strongest proponents for years. His prediction would require a five-fold increase in SOL’s $58 billion market capitalization to surpass Ether’s current market cap of $293 billion.
Samani argued that “today, no one really uses Ethereum” and that it only remains a leading blockchain network due to stablecoins, and stablecoins borrowed against Ether as collateral.
SOL and ETH have largely been moving in lockstep in percentage terms during the recent upturn in markets. During the past month, Ether rose 30%, while SOL rose 34%. However, Solana’s rise comes off a smaller base and the token saw a larger decline in the bear market, falling 59% during the past year, in comparison to Ether’s 45% decline, according to TradingView.
ETH/USD, 1-year chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
Did Samani ragequit crypto?
In February, Samani said he was stepping down as managing partner of the crypto investment firm Multicoin Capital after 10 years in the industry, in what he called a “bittersweet moment”.
At the time Samani seemed dispirited about the state of the industry. He reportedly quickly deleted an X post, in which he stated: “I once believed in the web3 vision. dapps. I don’t anymore…Crypto is just fundamentally not as interesting as many crypto enthusiasts wanted. Myself included.”
If it was a crisis of confidence, it was only fleeting. In September, Samani joined the US board of directors at crypto trading platform Backpack.
Ethereum has ‘questionable’ value accrual
Samani said he is “bearish” on Ethereum’s ability to accrue value despite being the largest smart contract network.
“It’s a $400 billion to $300 billion asset that has questionable value accrual, if any, and it’s not growing at all.”
Samani added that he doesn’t understand why investors would want to own Ether at the current valuation, adding that he sees plenty of other investment opportunities at “more reasonable prices.”
He argued that more crypto companies will be pivoting to Solana, which he called “the most functional network” that makes it easier for firms seeking to consolidate operations.
While SOL accounts for less than one-fifth of Ether’s market capitalization, it has surpassed the Ethereum network in both weekly and monthly fees.
Top blockchain networks by 30-day fees. Source: DefiLlama
Solana generated $23 million in fees over the past 30 days and ranked fourth in monthly fees. Ethereum generated $12.6 million and ranked in sixth place, according to DefiLlama.
Related: Solana sees record 263K tokens issued in a single day
Solana became one of Multicoin Capital’s top bets
Samani first discovered permissionless finance and smart contracts through Ethereum in 2016 and has said it was his “entry into crypto.” However, he later lost faith in Ethereum after becoming dissatisfied with how Ethereum developers addressed scaling.
He came across Solana shortly after founding Multicoin in May 2017, and the firm went on to lead some of Solana’s earliest investment rounds in 2018.
It turned out to be one of the best ever bets for Multicoin, which reported managing $5.9 billion worth of assets in May 2025, making it one of the most prominent crypto investment firms.
Before joining the crypto industry, Samani co-founded and served as the CEO of healthcare IT company Pristine, which built software for Google Glass used by surgeons.
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