By
Temitope Olatunji
April 24th, 2024
Amid the rapidly increasing adoption of all crypto-related projects, the Reddit co-founder said he is ready to commit $100 million into decentralized social media projects on the Solana blockchain.
Alexis Ohanian, the co-founder of the American social news aggregation website Reddit, has revealed plans to invest $100 million in social media on the Solana blockchain. Ohanian announced his plans during a chat with Solana co-founder Raj Gokal at Breakpoint, the first conference organized by the Solana Foundation on the 9th of November. The Reddit co-founder noted his intention in building social media projects on the public blockchain, emphasizing Solana’s high performance.
Reddit Co-Founder to Invest $100M in Social Media on Solana
Crypto, blockchains, and DeFi appear to be the trend amongst investors who see the industry as the next big thing. Apart from Ohanian, many investors are also bullish on DeFi as they put their funds in several DeFi projects. Amid the rapidly increasing adoption of all crypto-related projects, the Reddit co-founder said he is ready to commit $100 million into decentralized social media projects on the Solana blockchain.
Initially, Ohanian said that the initiative was going to be a $50 million project. However, the entrepreneur and investor increased the initiative to $100 million, noting that the initial amount was not sufficient. He stated:
“One of the reason why I’m here is to announce – I have a venture fund called 776- we’re earmarking $50 million to invest in the next wave of social, built on Solana.”
The Breakpoint event, which started on the 7th of November, has been hosting renowned names across the crypto industry. Before the chat between Ohanian and Gokal, FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried had also participated in the conference. While speaking, Bankman-Fried signaled his support for social media on the blockchain. He commented:
“I think social media on the blockchain – I continue to think this could be absolutely huge. I think it solves a lot of existing pain points, which are really coming to the forefront of society right now.”
The FTX CEO mentioned security, among other benefits that could be derived from building social media on the blockchain. According to the executive, blockchain will enable the exchange of exchanges in a secure and private manner. Bankman specified on Solana, pointing to the blockchain’s ability to perform significant amounts of transactions per second. Currently, the Solana blockchain handles 2,553 transactions per second.
Bankman-Fried Says DeFi Could Integrate Existing Social Media Platforms
Furthermore, Bankman-Fried said at the conference that DeFi could expand by integrating existing social media platforms. In his opinion, a “potential way” to spike DeFi adoption is to develop a unique product and then merge with a social media platforms that already has an extensive user base.
At the same time, Ohanian’s announcement came as SOL became the 4th largest cryptocurrency by market cap. On the 7th of November, the crypto asset also surged to an all-time high of $260. During the increase, the Solana crypto surpassed other crypto giants, including Cardano (ADA), to reach a new position. However, SOL is currently the 6th largest cryptocurrency with a market cap of over $72 billion.