The year 2025 has become a pivotal time for the consolidation of major layer-1 networks, which are enhancing tools and technologies to improve interoperability and advance real-world financial applications.
For Ethereum, this led to an increase in institutional adoption and ongoing scaling efforts, as developers began focusing on interoperability as a critical challenge for 2026. Solana, on the other hand, concentrated on testing its network under actual demand and strengthening its infrastructure, paving the way for more significant financial applications next year. Together, these two platforms illustrate how industry leaders are gearing up for the forthcoming wave of user adoption.
This evolution is significant because increased institutional adoption, enhanced interoperability, and practical financial use cases could affect long-term demand, create opportunities, and sustain returns related to assets on these networks.
Ethereum’s 2026 Focus on Interoperability
Ethereum’s progress in 2025 has been largely fueled by a rise in institutional interest, particularly with the introduction of digital asset treasuries (DATs). Mike Silagadze, cofounder of ether.fi, highlighted that ongoing protocol improvements are critical, emphasizing efforts to make Ethereum’s mainnet more scalable, resulting in very affordable transactions that are projected to improve further.
Silagadze noted that advancements in layer-two interoperability—facilitating asset movement across layer twos and Ethereum—are the right direction, driven by broader initiatives to promote institutional engagement. This push resonates with developers within the Ethereum ecosystem, as Alex Cutler, CEO of Dromos Labs, commented on how the upcoming Ethereum upgrades signify an end to fragmentation.
Looking forward to 2026, Silagadze hopes that Ethereum’s evolution will lean less on speculation and more toward genuine everyday utility, reinforced by infrastructure enhancements like lower transaction costs and better layer-two interoperability. He anticipates a transition beyond speculative activities toward solutions that can resolve genuine financial issues at scale, such as broader access to tokenized equities and neo-banking-like services.
Solana’s Strategic Preparations for 2026
Solana experienced a tumultuous yet formative 2024, ultimately stabilizing in 2025. The beginning of the year saw heightened activity, particularly from memecoin trading that tested the network’s limits. Lucas Bruder, CEO of Jito Labs, noted significant transaction volume and validator revenue, which helped solidify the network’s resilience.
Bruder indicated that Solana has become markedly smoother, with improved performance and increased block space enhancing user experience while attracting new DeFi teams eager to innovate on the platform. As a result, Solana’s reputation as a high-throughput financial network began to materialize, making 2025 a milestone year.
As they prepared for 2026, Jito focused on enhancing infrastructure through the launch of BAM, a product designed to improve transaction sequencing transparency. This effort aims to unlock new markets and enhance user experiences by refining transaction ordering and pricing. The anticipated 2026 rollout of the Alpenglow upgrade is expected to fundamentally simplify Solana’s consensus mechanism, improving reliability and drastically reducing transaction finalization times.
