Solana Foundation Hires Binance Marketing Chief and Polygon Veteran Amid Regulatory Challenges
The Solana Foundation has made two significant hires in an attempt to boost interest and demand for SOL, its native cryptocurrency. Rachel Conlan, a former marketing chief at Binance, has been appointed as Chief Strategy Officer, while Jamal Raees, a veteran from Polygon Labs, will take on the role of General Manager of Payments.
The foundation believes these new hires will help secure partnerships with banks, asset managers, and payment companies as financial assets increasingly move to blockchain technology. Solana currently leads in tokenized stock trading, holding over $620 million in tokenized stocks, but this advantage may be short-lived due to the SEC's new rules requiring U.S.-based venues and verified wallets.
Lily Liu, 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. However, specifics about issuers, venue partners, volume targets, or settlement assets were not disclosed.
The new hires may help bridge the 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 without an active U.S. venue license or issuers' consent.