Solana Foundation’s Liu urges refocus on finance as crypto slides and narratives narrow

Tech Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email Solana Foundation’s Liu urges refocus on finance as crypto slides and narratives narrow Liu’s remarks come as cryptocurrencies plunge and other industry leaders are narrowing their own visions for blockchain utility. By Margaux Nijkerk , AI Boost | Edited by Nikhilesh De Feb 5, 2026, 4:16 p.m. Make us preferred on Google What to know : Blockchains should refocus on their original purpose: finance, Solana Foundation President Lily Liu wrote on X Thursday, rejecting years of narratives that attempted to frame the technology as a generalized replacement for the modern internet. Liu, who will be speaking at Consensus Hong Kong next week, was particularly dismissive of past efforts to push blockchains into gaming and broad “web3” consumer narratives, calling them intellectually lazy and overly reliant on marketing rather than genuine market creation. Blockchains should refocus on their original purpose: finance, Solana Foundation President Lily Liu wrote on X Thursday, rejecting years of narratives that attempted to frame the technology as a generalized replacement for the modern internet. STORY CONTINUES BELOW Don't miss another story. Subscribe to the The Protocol Newsletter today . See all newsletters Sign me up By signing up, you will receive emails about CoinDesk products and you agree to our terms & conditions and privacy policy . “Blockchains have always been and always will be tech for finance,” Liu wrote, describing financialization and open capital markets as the sector’s core value proposition. Liu, who will be speaking at Consensus Hong Kong next week, was particularly dismissive of past efforts to push blockchains into gaming and broad “web3” consumer narratives, calling them intellectually lazy and overly reliant on marketing rather than genuine market creation. She criticized the idea that simply placing existing applications on a blockchain, often under the banner of “read, write, own” would automatically generate value, arguing instead that meaningful adoption requires the creation of entirely new financial markets. The comments land at a moment when crypto prices have been plunging, with bitcoin, ether and other major tokens sliding amid macroeconomic uncertainty and fading speculative demand. Despite the downturn, institutional interest remains strong, as traditional financial firms continue exploring tokenization, onchain settlement and payments rails. Liu’s remarks also come as other industry leaders are narrowing their own visions for blockchain utility. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has recently signaled a desire to double down on Ethereum’s layer-1 scaling roadmap, pulling focus away from a sprawling layer-2-centric approach that has dominated Ethereum’s strategy in recent years. The shift reflects doubling down on fragmented ecosystems to focus on usability and coherence. Taken together, the comments highlight a broader recalibration underway across the industry: as prices fall, industry leaders are doubling down that the technology underpinning all of this still has its purpose. Read more: From 'Ethereum’s sidekick' to standalone stars: How Vitalik Buterin’s latest pivot is forcing Layer 2s to grow up Solana Foundation Solana News AI Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards . For more information, see CoinDesk's full AI Policy .