Scaling & Infrastructure - Ethereum ecosystem advances with Bhutan anchoring its national digital ID system on Ethereum [1] - Layer 2 networks on Ethereum processed 14 billion transactions in Q3, a new record [16] - ZK performance is accelerating, with Brevis unveiling Pico Prism, proving 996% of blocks in under 12 seconds [11] - AbstractChain dropped block times from 1s to 200ms, a 5x speed boost [26] Institutional & RWA Adoption - Stablecoin transfers on Ethereum hit $5 trillion last quarter [3] - ADIChain joined the zksync Elastic Network, launching the first dirham-backed stablecoin with major UAE banks [5] - Securitize and FGNexusio brought the first NASDAQ-listed equity fully onchain [13] - Applications on Ethereum now host over $360 billion in deposits, up $100 billion this year [15] DeFi & Payments - WalletConnect Pay went live with dtc_pay, enabling seamless stablecoin payments across retail and hospitality in Asia [8] - MiniPay wallets increased by 175% year-over-year during the quarter, with users initiating approximately 290 million peer-to-peer transactions worth over $300 million across 60 countries [23]

Core Insights - Solana is positioned as an ideal blockchain with fast and cheap transactions, smart contract capabilities, and growing catalysts, suggesting a potential value of at least $500 per coin within five years [1] Demand Drivers - Real-world asset (RWA) tokenization is identified as a significant trend for Solana's price growth, with the value of tokenized assets on the platform exceeding $503 million as of September 8, alongside $11.5 billion in stablecoin value [3][4] - The meme coin segment contributes to Solana's demand by attracting retail investors and enhancing decentralized exchange (DEX) liquidity, often surpassing Ethereum in trading volumes during meme coin surges [5][6] Institutional Interest - Several U.S. asset issuers have filed for Solana spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs), with a ruling from the SEC expected on October 16, which could lead to increased capital inflows from institutional asset managers if approved [7][8]