David Edwards
Blockchain technology could redefine global capital markets by democratizing access to investment opportunities, according to Akshay BD, the non-chief marketing officer (nCMO) of the Solana Foundation. Speaking at the Accelerate 2025 conference, Akshay asserted that Solana has the potential to “make everyone an investor or a dreamer over time.”
Addressing systemic issues in traditional finance, Akshay pointed to the growing disillusionment among retail investors and institutional clients alike. “You have low bond yields, you have asset price bubbles, and people don’t really understand how the traditional asset allocation model works anymore,” he remarked, criticizing the long-held 60-40 portfolio model for its diminishing reliability.
He highlighted the stark contrast between wage-based income and asset-driven wealth accumulation, emphasizing how retail investors are often excluded from private markets. This disparity, he suggested, exacerbates volatility in public markets by concentrating access to high-value assets among accredited investors.
Akshay further cautioned that the rise of artificial intelligence could worsen economic inequality. He framed the discussion around two divergent futures: one shaped by universal basic income, and another driven by what he calls “universal basic ownership.” In the latter vision, mobile-first blockchain technologies could enable broad-based investment in tokenized real-world assets—from local businesses to global energy firms—with the simplicity of scanning a QR code.
This vision underscores Solana’s broader mission to foster financial inclusivity through its decentralized ecosystem. According to Akshay, crypto doesn’t just disrupt—it begins as entertainment or utility and quickly evolves into a transformative economic force.
He noted that this paradigm shift is particularly relevant as equity markets remain historically overvalued. The S&P 500’s price-to-earnings ratio has consistently exceeded its long-term average since 2018, reflecting investor appetite for growth amid persistent low interest rates. However, high valuations have often preceded significant corrections, as seen during the dot-com bubble and the 2008 financial crisis.
By tokenizing real-world assets and expanding market access, Akshay believes blockchain can mitigate such overheating and recalibrate wealth distribution. “Crypto enables the financialization of all productive assets,” he concluded. “Anyone who participates in the economy should be able to own a stake in it.”
