Tom Lee (Thomas Lee) has become Ethereum's recognized new whale, buying 1.5 million ETH in 50 days, turning Ethereum from a doomsday chariot into a "wait and see for the next decade" asset. While Solana, which was shouting "take down Ethereum" with high ambitions last year, has lost its previous enthusiasm. In this wave of altcoins, the community realized that "Solana also needs its own Tom Lee."

SOL/ETH Exchange Rate Continues to Decline

So, who is Solana's Tom Lee?

BlockBeats has shared 6 candidates from the community, each of whom is highly skilled, with even the early Solana hype man Raoul Pal not making the list.

Our final top pick is Anthony Scaramucci.

This Wall Street's most staunch Solana Maxi, who holds absolute authority in both crypto and Wall Street, is most importantly openly passionate about Solana.

Now, let's see why Anthony Scaramucci stands out from names like Kyle Samani (Multicoin founder) and Chamath Palihapitiya (top Silicon Valley investor).

Anthony Scaramucci

Anthony Scaramucci can be said to be one of Wall Street's most staunch Solana Maxis. He was a former Goldman Sachs investment banker, founded the hedge fund company SkyBridge Capital in 2005, and became famous for briefly serving as White House Communications Director for 1 mooch (11 days). He has gathered Wall Street leaders through hosting the annual SALT Summit, accumulating a strong network in the financial industry. As a seasoned fund manager, Scaramucci dares to embrace emerging assets, often contrarian investing during market downturns, making him one of Wall Street's visionary investment representatives. In recent years, he has actively engaged in the crypto field, shifting some of SkyBridge's capital to Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and more, personally advocating for the crypto industry, enhancing his prominence in the crypto community. Besides his network, he also has his own Youtube channel with 170,000 subscribers, which also gives him considerable influence through the dissemination channel.

Compared to other "candidates," Scaramucci appears more steadfast in his position on Solana. At the Solana Breakpoint conference in September 2024, he stated, "I hope the tokenization of financial assets happens on Solana because I hold a large amount of Solana, and I believe this will eventually happen." He revealed on the spot that he is a Solana holder and predicted that Solana will lead the global financial market's wave of tokenization. In May 2024, Scaramucci hinted at a "Solana ETF" in a tweet. He firmly believes that after Bitcoin and Ethereum, Solana is poised to be among the next batch of crypto assets to receive approval for a US ETF, a "prophecy" that came true on July 2nd this year.

At the DigiAssets Summit in June 2025, he once again shouted the slogan "SOL Will Flip ETH." He emphasized that this is not a denial of Ethereum but rather his "better understanding of Solana's story." While various companies and traditional institutions are heavily betting on Ethereum, he continues to assert the view that Solana is the Ethereum killer, demonstrating his strong confidence in Solana's future.

Scaramucci has repeatedly emphasized his Solana holdings in public appearances. As of early 2025, SkyBridge held high-seven-figure amounts of Bitcoin and Solana on its balance sheet and managed a roughly $300 million crypto portfolio for clients, with allocations to other assets like Avalanche and Polkadot. Although the report did not explicitly disclose the holdings of each token, he stated that Solana is a critical part of it.

Behind SkyBridge Capital, which enables the connection between Solana and Wall Street, is Scaramucci, who founded SkyBridge Capital in 2005. The company initially started by screening and investing in external top hedge funds and was once one of the most well-known FoF (Fund of Funds) managers in the industry. Its clients were primarily institutional investors (pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, family offices, etc.) and high-net-worth individuals. At its peak (2015–2018), SkyBridge's AUM exceeded $12 billion. By 2020, it gradually expanded to include crypto assets and had a cooperation and equity relationship with FTX before FTX's collapse (FTX once held a 30% stake in SkyBridge). Its SALT conference, launched in 2009, has evolved into a "bridge between traditional finance and emerging technology" and covers topics including finance, technology, politics, and culture. Noteworthy guests have participated, including Ray Dalio (Bridgewater Associates), Bill Clinton (former US President), Tony Blair (former UK Prime Minister), Kevin O'Leary (Shark Tank, detailed below), and Sam Bankman-Fried. While SkyBridge may not be the world's largest fund by fund size, its unique and prominent reputation in the international financial world stems from its cross-influence in finance, politics, and crypto.

He has also written a book about his holdings titled "Solana Rising," which is planned to be released in the latter half of this year. The target audience of the book is those who are newcomers in the traditional finance world looking to learn about allocating to crypto assets. The content includes discussions of large investors and players betting on Solana, an introduction to Solana, and the role it should play in a cryptocurrency portfolio.

Scaramucci's overall view of Solana can be summarized as "highly bullish with a long-term outlook." He is outgoing and eloquent, skilled in packaging grand narratives, and often uses straightforward exaggeration to express optimistic expectations. His style is sometimes seen as Degen or market hype, but it is precisely for this reason that he can successfully attract attention and focus.

With a background in Wall Street and a passion for crypto, Scaramucci is able to articulate Solana's selling points in language that mainstream investors can understand. He discusses how tokenization reduces financial costs and how Solana addresses trust overhead, translating technical advantages into investment logic. Overall, he is one of the few individuals who have the authority to speak in both the traditional finance world and the crypto community. With this cross-disciplinary influence and his undisguised enthusiasm for Solana, Scaramucci is increasingly being seen as one of the ecosystem's advocates.

Michael Edward Novogratz

Michael Edward Novogratz is a former Goldman Sachs macro trader, Fortress Investment Group partner, and the founder and CEO of Galaxy Digital. He is considered one of Wall Street's earliest and most prominent crypto advocates. His career spans from traditional hedge funds to the digital asset investment field, known for his willingness to bet on emerging markets and high-volatility assets.

Since 2013, Novogratz has been actively investing in core assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum and has played a "bridge" role between crypto and institutional funds in multiple cycles, including the Ethereum ICO frenzy of this cycle, as well as holding a pivotal role in many OTC platforms. As a macro investor, Novogratz's view of Solana is somewhat similar to Raoul Pal's, focusing on the macro trends of "liquidity" and "institutional adoption." He believes that the next phase of growth for crypto assets lies in on-chain representation and tokenization of real-world assets (RWA), and Solana's technical architecture (high TPS, low latency, stable fees) allows it to meet institutional demands for speed and cost.

Novogratz has deep Wall Street connections and media exposure, and Galaxy Digital is one of the few cryptocurrency financial companies publicly listed in the US and Canada, giving his voice a strong signaling effect. He often promotes crypto concepts in traditional media such as CNBC and Bloomberg in a concise and straightforward manner. His style combines the stability of old-school Wall Street with the boldness of a crypto pioneer. When speaking publicly, he often combines personal investment viewpoints with Galaxy's market data, making his statements both convincing and strategically guiding. In terms of the potential promotion of Solana, Novogratz's advantage lies in his ability to sell Solana to traditional finance using "institutional language," which complements Scaramucci's capital network and Samani's native crypto evangelism.

Prior to the Luna crash, Novo had a Luna tattoo on one arm, while on the other arm, he had a BTC tattoo.

However, whether Novo will genuinely advocate for Solana depends on whether the interests at stake are worth his while. Novo has also benefited from Solana in various ways. In September 2023, FTX Estate entrusted Galaxy Digital to handle the sale, hedging, and staking of FTX's $34 billion worth of cryptocurrency assets when FTX filed for bankruptcy. A significant portion of these assets was SOL (FTX acquired approximately 60 million SOL tokens between August 2020 and May 2021). The sale of SOL was divided into multiple auctions. In March 2024, the first auction sold 25-30 million locked Solana tokens at a price of $64 each, a 60% discount from the market price. Galaxy Trading set up a special purpose fund for this transaction to purchase these tokens and financed approximately $6.2 billion. The second auction sold 1.8 million SOL tokens at prices ranging from $95 to $110 each, with discounts ranging from 15% to 26%. Galaxy participated in both auctions, acting as both a "referee" and a "player," sparking community discussions.

Investors will need to pay Galaxy a 1% management fee, and the investment will generate returns through staking. A single trade has already brought them millions of dollars in profits. However, this is just the beginning. The company's financial report released on March 31, 2024, shows that Galaxy Digital invested $104.1 million in its Crypto Vol fund, which includes Solana assets acquired from FTX. This means that Galaxy itself may have invested at least tens of millions of dollars in this transaction, which has already more than tripled their investment based on the $64 price point. According to Arkm's data, Galaxy Digital's main wallet currently holds $3.3 million in SOL, and analysis indicates they hold a total of 151,196 SOL on-chain, valued at $25 million, along with tens of millions of dollars in SOL transferred to centralized exchanges with an "unknown" destination, and holdings in other addresses, indicating that the actual holding may far exceed this number.

In addition, Galaxy was also one of the first institutions to participate in a SOL ETF. As early as April, Galaxy partnered with CIGlobalAsset to launch the CI Galaxy Solana ETF (SOLX) on the Toronto Stock Exchange. In June, they collaborated with Invesco to submit an application to the SEC for a US-listed ETF. On the 14th of this month, the SEC responded and acknowledged the application for the Invesco Galaxy spot Solana ETF.

Although Galaxy Digital's main revenue source is still OTC trading of ETH and BTC, Novo's public discussions have mostly revolved around Ethereum and BTC. However, Galaxy's SOL holdings are quite substantial, coupled with recent frequent actions. With both motive and influence, if Novo is willing to convey "faith" like Tom Lee's "crazy bullish calls," its influence on Wall Street should be on par with anyone on the list.

Kyle Samani

The Block's Co-Founder Mike Dudas voted for Kyle Samani in the discussion. Kyle Samani is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of the next-generation crypto venture capital firm Multicoin Capital. As a post-80s entrepreneur (former engineer), Samani quickly rose to prominence in the crypto investment world with profound insights into blockchain technology trends.

In terms of closeness to Solana alone, Samani is definitely one of the biggest bulls among them. Multicoin Capital, under his leadership, has been investing in Solana since the seed round in 2018 and added a $20 million Series A round in 2019. In the peak year of 2021, as revealed on X, they hold "tens of billions" in SOL across multiple funds, likely representing 8-12% of Solana's circulating supply. They were early believers in Solana's feasibility, making high returns for the funds. Samani's successful investment in Solana made him famous overnight, and Multicoin has grown into one of the top crypto funds. Despite not coming from a traditional Wall Street background, Samani has established influence in the emerging financial circle through his investment performance.

Solana Founder Toly and Samani Discuss Solana's Development, Source: Lightspeed

As an early investor in Solana, Samani has become one of the key advocates of the Solana project. Multicoin has not only invested in Solana but also a range of Solana ecosystem projects, including Jito, Drift, solscan, Dialect, Helium, and more. In an interview with Coinage in June 2025, he said, "Previously, everyone thought Ethereum was untouchable, but Solana is on an inevitable path to disrupt Ethereum." He bluntly stated that the Ethereum development team "missed the opportunity, failed to address scalability, leading to skyrocketing fees, and poor user experience," forcing users to flee. He believes that Solana seized this opportunity and emerged as the biggest beneficiary.

At multiple summits in recent years, Samani has depicted the grand vision of Solana. He believes that Solana can support an Internet-scale capital market (ICM), facilitating on-chain transactions for real-world assets such as stocks and bonds. He stated, "If global assets gradually move onto the blockchain, the crypto market cap could increase from 3 trillion to 50 trillion dollars in the next decade," and Solana has the potential to play a crucial role in this boom. Therefore, he is not afraid of short-term fluctuations, has been overweight on SOL, and this has made Multicoin's investment style lean more towards being "Degen" from a perception standpoint.

Samani is rational yet passionate, using data and facts to express his views, but he is unapologetically optimistic about projects he believes in, somewhat similar to Tom Lee. However, Samani is mainly active in the crypto investment circle and developer community. He shares his views through blogs, podcasts, industry summits, etc. Due to the lack of a Wall Street background, traditional media exposure, and cross-industry celebrity effects, Samani's influence in the mainstream or traditional financial circles is limited. Still, his enthusiasm and dedication to Solana have made him one of the most important advocates and thought leaders in the Solana ecosystem.

Chamath Palihapitiya

DBR Crypto's co-founder Jon Charbonneau presented a controversial figure, Chamath Palihapitiya, stating "once you see it you can't unsee it," suggesting that if Palihapitiya were to show support, SOL's price could easily surpass $1000.

Chamath Palihapitiya is a well-known Silicon Valley venture capitalist and entrepreneur. Having accumulated wealth as an executive at Facebook in his early years, he later founded the Social Capital investment firm. Through a series of unique investments (such as early Bitcoin investments and driving multiple SPACs to go public), he has become a prominent figure in the new generation of the financial industry. He is dubbed the "SPAC King" and has often made headlines in financial media. In Wall Street and the tech world, Chamath is known for his independent thinking and willingness to challenge the status quo. He frequently shares his insights on market trends on his popular podcast, "All-In," influencing a large number of listeners. His financial network spans Silicon Valley and Wall Street, and his innovative and aggressive investment style has garnered him a large following.

However, Palihapitiya is not actually well-liked in the community. One of the reasons he is controversial in this topic is his discussion in Episode 50 of All-In with then co-host David Sacks in 2021. In this episode, they half-jokingly talked about acquiring Solana tokens at a discount and considering cashing out, which was clipped and circulated, leading some to accuse them of engaging in rug pulling as venture capitalists to profit from the price drop. In response, Chamath clarified this year that he did not sell Solana at its peak, dismissing accusations that he "dumped Solana on retail investors" as baseless, stating, "If that were true, the buyers would be rich now" (referring to Solana's subsequent price surge).

All-In Podcast Episode 50 discussing his investment philosophy with David Sacks

Palihapitiya's "harvesting" argument is not baseless. Since 2020, Palihapitiya has been involved in dozens of SPACs, including Virgin Galactic, Opendoor Technologies, Clover Health, SoFi Technologies, among others. However, most investors found it challenging to make money in the projects he backed. Calculations revealed that if someone had invested $100 in all his SPAC projects, the cumulative loss to date exceeds 70%. After receiving a significant number of NO votes on his proposal, he also delivered a memorable quote in his comments section, "No crying in the casino!!" Some community members speculated that amidst the "coin-stock company" trend, Palihapitiya's move might aim to leverage his Wall Street connections to bring a "cryptocurrency token" public through a reverse merger-listed company, but this lacks substantiated evidence.

On August 19, 2025, Chamath Palihapitiya finally unveiled his plan to launch a SPAC company named "AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM" to raise $250 million. The investment target not only includes the DeFi sector of blockchain but also primarily encompasses energy production, AI, and national defense. The prospectus mentioned that DeFi will completely revolutionize various financial products, including international payments, smart contracts, and supply chain transparency, so its cryptocurrency investment bias may also mainly emerge in these types associated with the physical world.

Palihapitiya's investment philosophy has always been long-term and fundamentally driven. In 2021, he stated that he held a significant portion of Bitcoin in his net worth, bullish on Bitcoin's macro hedge properties. Similarly, his view on the public chain track emphasizes network effects and utility. For Solana to truly impress Chamath, it needs to prove its ability to break through Ethereum's moat in decentralization and security. On this point, he may still be weighing his options.

Palihapitiya has a social media and podcast audience of over a million followers, and "All-In" keeps his popularity soaring. He excels at using plain language to analyze complex financial issues, with a humorous yet sharp style, hence attracting a large number of young investor fans. His charismatic personality is a mix of outspokenness and rationality, as he can make bold predictions (such as the early assertion that Bitcoin would reach $200k) and speak bluntly when the situation is unfavorable (such as "Crypto is dead in America").

This style makes his words both appealing and controversial. He mainly expresses his views through podcasts and X platform, rarely endorsing specific projects but rather providing industry-wide comments. Therefore, although Palihapitiya's reputation in the financial industry is undisputed, when it comes to being a "Solana advocate," whether on his channel or personal account, his discussions about the cryptocurrency industry are becoming fewer, with more focus on AI-related topics. Therefore, it is unlikely that, besides BTC, he will become an advocate for any single cryptocurrency. Rather than being a front-facing evangelist, he prefers to be a behind-the-scenes capital advocate.

Kevin O'Leary

Kevin O'Leary is a Canadian businessman and investment celebrity, well-known for being a judge on the entrepreneurial reality show "Shark Tank." He founded an educational software company in his early years and successfully sold it. He then established a broad influence through television programs, earning the nickname "Mr. Wonderful." As a TV personality, O'Leary's media influence is mainly through mainstream financial media (such as CNBC), personal social platforms, and participation in industry conferences. His straightforward and practical nature allows him to speak candidly about risks and opportunities. He has admitted to stepping on landmines and losing money in investments, but each failure has made him more cautious. This "frankness + experience-based rationality" style makes him appealing to retail investors. In the crypto field, O'Leary plays the role of a "rational bull," supporting crypto innovation but not chasing prices blindly, focusing more on long-term value and regulatory compliance. This stable image gives his words a certain credibility among traditional finance professionals.

O'Leary was initially skeptical of cryptocurrency, but in recent years has become an advocate for crypto investments, allocating about 11% of his personal portfolio to digital assets. In a July 2024 interview with CoinDesk, he mentioned holding various cryptocurrencies to achieve portfolio diversification and candidly stated that "Solana looks promising right now." O'Leary's overall view of Solana is cautiously optimistic, with an emphasis on compliance. He has emphasized multiple times that the crypto market needs clear regulations to attract mainstream capital. In his opinion, Bitcoin and Ethereum have already seen institutional acceptance, and new chains like Solana have the potential to share in the growth of digital assets if they can prove their value within a regulatory framework.

This is not his first bullish stance on Solana, as his connection with Solana dates back to his collaboration with SBF. In 2021, he became a paid spokesperson for FTX, and through this relationship, O'Leary received around $15 million, including equity, tokens in the FTX wallet, and tax reimbursements. Additionally, he has personally invested in FTX equity, with an investment size of around a million dollars. It can be said that during that time, he and the FTX ecosystem, as well as Solana, enjoyed a wonderful "honeymoon period."

Just a month before the FTX scandal in 2022, Reddit's r/CryptoCurrency subreddit held a public meeting and invited O'Leary. During his communication with the community members, he mentioned that he believed Solana's processing speed far exceeded that of Ethereum, which would provide many possibilities for "financial institutional adoption." After meeting Solana's team, he considered them to be one of the smartest groups he had encountered in his many years in the software industry. He views crypto as "productivity software," similar to investing in Microsoft or Google, and believes that the success of each project depends on the strength of the underlying technical team.

Looking back, after the FTX scandal, O'Leary participated in a hearing where he was accused of "misleading investors." Despite not downplaying SBF to absolve himself (even though he himself lost millions of dollars), he stated that more data was needed to prove the situation and mentioned that the "equity turmoil" between SBF and CZ ultimately led to the collapse of his funding chain. At the end of that hearing, he still held belief in the development of the cryptocurrency sector, stating that "FTX's closure will not deter the venture capital sector's pursuit of the next unicorn. If there is a glimmer of hope amidst this chaos, it is that the crypto industry will eventually receive the long-awaited regulations."

After that, although Solana's price experienced a sharp decline, the team behind it once again brought Solana into the spotlight, seemingly validating O'Leary's investment insight. However, his investment logic focuses on risk diversification, avoiding betting on a single token by holding multiple excellent projects simultaneously. He openly admits that in his investment career, he relies on winners to make up for losers, so he also casts a wide net in the crypto field to increase his chances of success. His support for Solana is more as part of his investment portfolio and does not specifically act as a Solana evangelist.

However, as the saying goes, "the rear end determines the head," with the shift in regulatory policies and Solana's development, it remains to be seen whether O'Leary will double down on Solana in his investment portfolio, thereby paving the way for Solana to connect with the traditional financial world through a "cognitive storm"?

Joe McCann

Former J.P. Morgan trader Vivek Raman believes that this candidate should be Joe McCann, and in fact, many people share this view.

Joe McCann is the founder, CEO, and CIO of the crypto hedge fund Asymmetric, which has received support from renowned institutions such as Andreessen Horowitz, Chris Dixon, Circle, as well as Solana and Multicoin founders. McCann has over 24 years of experience on Wall Street and in Silicon Valley, having served as a senior director at Microsoft in the Cloud and AI division (focusing on M&A and startups), managed crypto systematic trading at Passport Capital, and founded NodeSource (a Node.js company). He has advised several blockchain companies (such as Zebec in the Solana ecosystem), actively participates in global blockchain summits, and frequently promotes emerging technologies to mainstream audiences.

McCann can be considered one of the most steadfast Solana bulls among the candidates. He has publicly stated that he is a "die-hard fan" of Solana, and during the bear market period from 2021 to 2022, he "bought as much SOL as possible in the $8–11 range." Like Kyle Samani, he believes that Ethereum is currently facing an "identity crisis," with its supercomputer positioning being replaced by Solana, so he holds "0 ETH" in his fund. McCann emphasizes Solana's technical and cultural advantages, stating that Solana's high-throughput, low fees, early active integration into mainstream culture, and the trend towards compliance, combined with these factors, keep him highly optimistic about Solana.

Joe McCann and Dragonfly Co-founder Haseeb discuss the value discovery of blockchain compared to traditional IPOs during the Pumpfun ICO

To further deepen his involvement in Solana, McCann also championed a series of real-world projects. In mid-2025, he proposed the establishment of a Solana digital asset treasury company named Accelerate, with plans to raise $1.5 billion through SPAC financing and personally serve as co-founder and CEO. However, the SPAC deal was terminated in August 2025. Prior to this, Asymmetric Public suffered significant losses in the first half of 2025 due to its heavy investment in Solana, with the fund losing nearly 80% of its value. McCann gave LPs the choice to either exit or roll their capital into a specific illiquid investment (i.e., the Solana treasury).

Nevertheless, he continued to expand his presence within the Solana ecosystem, such as making early investments in BONK with substantial returns, as well as investments in Syndica, Light Protocol, Ranger, and other Solana infrastructure projects. Overall, McCann is one of the few individuals who have managed to exert influence in both the traditional finance and crypto spheres. With a Wall Street background and a professional analytical perspective, he vigorously promotes Solana with a high-profile attitude, making him a key advocate in the Solana ecosystem.

Who Is Most Likely to Become a Representative Promoter of Solana?

In summary, in practical terms, Tom Lee is the most likely candidate to become Solana's key promoter, while Anthony Scaramucci is best suited for the role. He holds a significant "SOL Bag," maintains a consistently bullish outlook on Solana, and has both Wall Street resources and media exposure. Although Joe McCann shares a similarly strong passion and dedication to Solana, his level of recognition in both Wall Street and the general public is not as high as Scaramucci's. Other candidates may have shortcomings in terms of holdings, enthusiasm, or public image. Novogratz holds a substantial amount of Solana assets and his firm, Galaxy Digital, is set to launch a Solana ETF. However, the underlying platform's considerations may be more neutral, as it is currently more focused on Bitcoin and Ethereum. Kyle Samani is very optimistic but lacks a traditional financial background and is more of an emerging investor. Palihapitiya and O'Leary, while influential, have not taken sustained actions to lead Solana forward.

Looking to the future, who will ultimately raise the "Solana Flag" high? It's likely to be more than one person. Just as there is a group of Ethereum believers behind Tom Lee singing in unison to drive the entire Ethereum ecosystem forward, Solana also needs advocates from multiple fronts. The community power behind Solana's rebound from the bottom may be stronger than imagined.

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