Akshay BD, the non-CMO of the Solana Foundation, stated that the current structure of capital markets fails to serve a broad range of investors. During a panel discussion at the Accelerate 2025 conference, Akshay proposed that blockchain technology could address these shortcomings and claimed that Solana could 'over time, make everyone an investor or a dreamer.'
Akshay noted that investor uncertainty is increasing, and investment managers are reporting heightened anxiety among clients. 'You have low bond yields, asset price bubbles, and people can no longer understand traditional asset allocation models,' he said. The 60-40 portfolio has long failed to deliver stable returns.
He attributed this tension to the gap between wage income and the growth of wealth from asset ownership. Individual investors are often excluded from private markets that are only open to accredited investors, which may contribute to the overheating of public markets.
Akshay warned that the rapid development of artificial intelligence could exacerbate existing economic divides. He asked: 'Where are we headed? Are we creating a welfare economy to support those who cannot keep their jobs or own assets, or are we suggesting universal basic ownership, where everyone with a phone can own assets?'
He described a vision of crypto infrastructure empowering broader asset ownership, enabling individuals to invest in everything from energy companies to local coffee shops through tokenization. In this model, acquiring ownership could be as simple as scanning a QR code.
The market continues to be above historical averages
The U.S. public equity market has long been above its historical valuation norm. According to data from market analysis firm Multpl, since December 2018, the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of the S&P 500 index has consistently remained above 19.6, higher than the historical average P/E ratio of around 16.1, indicating that investors have been willing to pay a premium for earnings in recent years.
Looking back, the average valuation of the S&P 500 has gradually increased over the decades, driven by low interest rates, corporate earnings growth, and investor optimism about technology, among other factors. However, high valuations have also coincided with market correction periods such as the bursting of the internet bubble and the 2008 financial crisis.
Akshay stated that the way to address the overheated market is to open certain markets to retail investors, a goal that some sectors in the crypto space, such as RWA tokenization, aim to achieve. He pointed out that some entrepreneurs had tried this approach before, but the technology at the time did not support it. Akshay said: '[Crypto] started with gaming and quickly became profound.'
