Multicoin Capital co-founder Kyle Samani predicts that a growing number of crypto companies will choose to build on Solana instead of Ethereum, citing Solana’s ease of use and greater functionality. He expects Solana to flip Ether in market capitalization during “this market cycle.”

Samani shared the forecast during an episode of Trade Secrets with Cointelegraph, arguing that Ethereum may gradually lose its edge as the default smart contract network 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,” he said.

Samani and Multicoin amassed a sizable early position in Solana, and he has been one of the network’s strongest proponents for years. His prediction would require roughly 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,” claiming the network only remains a leading blockchain because of stablecoins, and stablecoins borrowed against Ether as collateral.

Market performance and network fees

SOL and ETH have largely moved in lockstep in percentage terms during the recent market upturn. Over the past month, Ether rose 30%, while SOL climbed 34%, according to TradingView. Solana’s advance, however, comes off a smaller base, and the token saw a steeper drawdown in the bear market, falling 59% over the past year compared with Ether’s 45% decline.

Despite SOL accounting for less than one-fifth of Ether’s market capitalization, the Solana network has overtaken Ethereum in both weekly and monthly fees. Solana generated $23 million in fees over the past 30 days, ranking fourth among blockchain networks, while Ethereum produced $12.6 million and placed sixth, according to DefiLlama. The fee figures offer a snapshot of recent network activity, while the market-capitalization gap shows that the two networks continue to differ substantially in valuation.

Did Samani ragequit crypto?

In February, Samani announced that he was stepping down as managing partner of Multicoin Capital after 10 years in the industry, describing the decision as a “bittersweet moment.”

At the time, Samani appeared dispirited about the state of the industry. He reportedly deleted an X post shortly after publishing it, 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 proved fleeting. In September, Samani joined the US board of directors at crypto trading platform Backpack. (Source: Evanss6 on X)

‘Questionable’ value accrual

Samani said he is “bearish” on Ethereum’s ability to accrue value despite the network’s status as the largest smart contract platform.

“It’s a $400 billion to $300 billion asset that has questionable value accrual, if any, and it’s not growing at all,” he said.

Samani added that he does not understand why investors would want to own Ether at its current valuation, noting that he sees plenty of other investment opportunities at “more reasonable prices.”

He argued that more crypto companies will pivot to Solana, which he called “the most functional network” and one that makes it easier for firms seeking to consolidate their operations.

Solana became one of Multicoin’s top bets

Samani first discovered permissionless finance and smart contracts through Ethereum in 2016, and has described it as his “entry into crypto.” He later lost faith in Ethereum after becoming dissatisfied with how its 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 in2018. The position became one of the best bets in Multicoin’s history: the firm reported managing $5.9 billion in assets as of May 2025, making it one of the most prominent crypto investment firms.

Before entering the crypto industry, Samani co-founded healthcare IT company Pristine and served as its CEO, building Google Glass software used by surgeons.

This article originally appeared on Cointelegraph.