x402

Solana

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<a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/tag/solana-foundation" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Solana Foundation</a> has appointed Rachel Conlan as Chief Strategy Officer and Jamal Raees as General Manager of Payments, the organization announced on Thursday.&nbsp;
Solana is a high-speed blockchain network designed for fast and low-cost transactions. The Foundation is the nonprofit that supports its growth and development.
Conlan joins from <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/tag/binance" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Binance</a>, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, where she spent three years as Global Chief Marketing Officer. She previously held senior leadership roles at <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/tag/okx" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">OKX</a>, CAA Sports and Havas.
Her mandate at <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/tag/solana" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Solana</a> is to lead strategy across institutional partnerships, ecosystem growth and go-to-market. In essence, her job is to turn the network's infrastructure into something companies and institutions actively build on rather than evaluate from the sidelines.
<a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/markets/analyst-who-predicted-2021-crash-admits-he-was-wrong-about-bitcoin" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Related: Analyst who predicted 2021 crash admits he was wrong about Bitcoin</a>
Meanwhile, Raees joins from Polygon Labs and previously held roles at Bridge and Wyre, two companies focused on payment infrastructure.&nbsp;
He will lead Solana's payments strategy, working with payment companies and enterprises to expand the network's reach as a layer for moving money globally.
<figure>
 <figcaption>
 Solana Foundation appoints Rachel Conlan (L) as Chief Strategy Officer and Jamal Raees (R) as GM of Payments as ecosystem activity hits new highs. 
 Picture courtesy: Solana
 </figcaption>
</figure>
<h2 id="two-hires-that-signal-where-solana-is-heading">Two hires that signal where Solana is heading</h2>
The appointments come during a stretch of record-level activity on Solana. In 2026 alone, the network has processed more than $5 trillion in <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/stablecoins" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">stablecoin</a> volume, as per data from Solana Foundation.&nbsp;
<h3 id="popular-on-thestreet-roundtable">Popular on TheStreet Roundtable:</h3>
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 <li><a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/markets/analyst-sells-bitcoin-at-85k-and-his-reason-might-surprise-you" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Analyst sells Bitcoin at $85K and his reason might surprise you</a></li>
</ul>
<a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/tag/real-world-assets" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Real-world assets</a> on the network have surpassed $4.5 billion, while tokenized equity supply has crossed $620 million. In August, Solana processed a record 5.2 billion non-vote transactions, its busiest month ever.
<blockquote>
 "Exceptional leaders choose Solana because they want to be close to what's being built," said Lily Liu, President of the Solana Foundation. "The question is no longer whether markets move onchain — it's how fast, and onto whose infrastructure."
</blockquote>
The hires follow a pattern of senior operators moving into the Solana ecosystem. Earlier this year, Michael Coates joined the Foundation as Chief Information Security Officer, bringing senior security experience from Mozilla and <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/tag/twitter" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Twitter</a>.&nbsp;
Column, an FDIC-insured U.S. bank, recently launched stablecoin support with Solana as the default network, and <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/tag/visa" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Visa</a> uses Solana for <a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/tag/usdc" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">USDC</a> settlement.
<a href="https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/innovation/solana-dominates-x402-with-23-2m-transactions-in-four-weeks" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Related: Solana dominates x402 with 23.2M transactions in four weeks</a>

Solana Foundation makes two senior hires as onchain activity accelerates

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