Interview with Solana Foundation President Lily Liu: The Time Is Right to Invest in the Asia-Pacific Market, and Solana May Unveil New Moves by Year-End
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Interview with Solana Foundation President Lily Liu: The Time Is Right to Invest in the Asia-Pacific Market, and Solana May Unveil New Moves by Year-End
Bear markets are the best time for builders.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsInterview and editing: Frank, Foresight News
From Wall Street to the crypto world, from Bitcoin maximalist to Chair of the Solana Foundation—what shift was more profound?
Perhaps Lily Liu herself can’t fully articulate it. After entering the workforce in 2005, she worked consecutively at top-tier traditional financial institutions such as Morgan Stanley, McKinsey, KKR, and HCA, following a typical elite career path—until fate intervened. Through persistent encouragement from her close friend and industry heavyweight Bobby Lee, she was introduced to Bitcoin in a surprisingly dramatic way.
Since then, as an early adopter who first encountered Bitcoin back in 2013, Lily Liu has now spent exactly ten years in the crypto industry. Her journey has taken her from exchanges (Bitcoin China) to one of America’s earliest mining companies, 21 Inc (later renamed Earn.com and acquired by Coinbase), and finally into public blockchains (Solana). Throughout this evolution, she has consistently operated at the intersection of top-tier resources, experiencing firsthand the market’s most authentic shifts while observing the industry’s transformation.
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In 2013: “Bobby, you shouldn’t be playing with Bitcoin”;
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In 2021: “What attracted me most about Solana is—when I press, it happens.”
Looking back, these two transitions—from outsider to insider, from “BTC Maxi” to joining Solana—are not just turning points but also strategic advantages—they bridge veteran crypto figures with traditional Silicon Valley elites, offering fresh reasons for people to reconsider Solana, bringing undeniable potential variables to its ecosystem.
Amid the turbulence surrounding FTX last year, regulatory winds across the entire market began shifting. Seizing the moment, Lily Liu decided to increase Solana’s focus on the Chinese-speaking and broader Asia-Pacific markets. As a result, Solana has taken notably different strides this year. On September 10, 2023, Foresight News had the privilege of interviewing Lily Liu. Below is the full transcript of our conversation.
From Wall Street to Crypto, From “BTC Maxi” to Solana
From Wall Street to crypto, from “BTC Maxi” to joining Solana—for Lily Liu, “Solana offers a completely different choice,” as she put it when explaining why she believes in Solana:
“I press, it happens.”
She believes that only a handful of blockchain projects today simultaneously possess strong communities and cutting-edge technology—and Solana is one of them, providing a new growth model suitable for decentralized ecosystems, without relying solely on traditional Silicon Valley or Web2 approaches.
Foresight News: Hello Lily, it’s great to have this opportunity to interview you. First, could you please introduce yourself briefly? Second, I did some research and found that you graduated from Stanford and Harvard, and early in your career worked at Morgan Stanley, McKinsey, and KKR—all top firms in traditional industries. What led you to discover the blockchain industry and start building within it?
Lily Liu: Thank you for having me, Foresight News. Hello to all Chinese-speaking readers. I’m Lily, and you can also call me by my Chinese name, Liu Yuanli. Although born in the U.S., I’ve always maintained deep ties with China and am proud of my Chinese cultural heritage. I entered the blockchain space in 2013 and currently serve as Chair of the Solana Foundation. My career began at Morgan Stanley’s investment banking division in Hong Kong. My first full-time role was at McKinsey, based in New York and Beijing, roughly between 2005 and 2008. Later, I joined the private equity firm KKR, primarily working in New York.
Through KKR, I met the “Frist” family (Foresight News note: The “Frist” family founded HCA, one of the world’s largest private healthcare networks, starting in the 1960s), who opened a private hospital in China. I participated in their international-standard hospital project in Cixi, Zhejiang Province, which had 500 beds. So actually, my first entrepreneurial experience wasn’t tech-related—it was in healthcare.
In 2013, I was still living in Shanghai. I had a good friend named Bobby Lee (Foresight News note: Co-founder of “Bitcoin China,” elder brother of Litecoin creator Charlie Lee), who was already well-known in the Bitcoin space. Bobby and I were both Stanford alumni and became close friends while in Shanghai.
One day, Bobby mentioned Bitcoin to me. At the time, I had a very shallow understanding, thinking it might be linked to money laundering or drug markets, and even told him, “Bobby, you shouldn’t be playing with Bitcoin.” But he kept talking about it, urging me not to ignore Bitcoin. That was perhaps my first encounter with the almost religious fervor present in the Bitcoin community.
Eventually, due to his persistence, I decided to study Bitcoin seriously. I read the whitepaper and spent time learning. I gradually realized that Bitcoin was profoundly interesting from technical, theoretical, and decentralization perspectives. Back then, between 2013 and 2014, there were only a few cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Litecoin.
In 2014, I left the hospital project and joined Bobby’s company, “Bitcoin China” (BTCC). After working at BTCC for about four to five months, I returned to the U.S., where I met someone named Balaji S. Srinivasan, who ran a mining company called 21 Inc. At that time, there were only a few mining companies in the U.S., and 21 Inc was one of them. The market was gradually entering a bear phase, and many companies faced financial planning challenges. I worked closely with Balaji S. Srinivasan to help 21 Inc. manage its financial pressures. The company later rebranded as Earn.com and was sold to Coinbase in 2018.
During that period, I focused mostly on Bitcoin because there weren’t many other technological options available. Many applications and use cases were still seen as dreams—discussed only on Bitcointalk forums or in articles speculating about the future of decentralized technologies. Bitcoin proved that a decentralized network could exist, but it couldn’t support many practical use cases. If it takes an hour to receive funds, it clearly needs significant optimization compared to traditional financial systems.
Therefore, I believe Ethereum expanded the range of possible use cases in the crypto space. However, Ethereum has its own issues—while faster than Bitcoin, transactions still aren’t as instantaneous as traditional financial transactions. In reality, regardless of underlying technology, both the U.S. and China have independent payment systems like PayPal and WeChat Pay, which still hold user experience advantages over current blockchain solutions.
Foresight News: What do you see as the biggest difference between this industry and traditional sectors? After going through multiple market cycles, what keeps drawing you back to keep building?
Lily Liu: I think the biggest difference lies in entrepreneurial culture. Traditional companies typically don’t prioritize innovation or entrepreneurship as core strengths—their goals are often not centered around innovation. In contrast, Silicon Valley’s core culture is built on innovation and entrepreneurship.
I believe blockchain is one of the most extreme industries in tech because its ultimate goal is decentralization—a direct contrast to the centralized business models of Silicon Valley. Blockchain emphasizes decentralization heavily. In a way, it blends elements of socialism and capitalism, possessing certain governance characteristics. This is precisely why I became interested in blockchain theory—it offers a different way of thinking about societal choices.
For those involved in Bitcoin during 2013 and 2014, I think at least one (possibly two) of three main motivations drove their participation: belief in blockchain ideology, involvement in illicit activities like drug trade or money laundering, or interest in the technology itself.
For me, it was primarily the conceptual appeal of blockchain. If someone truly believed in decentralization back then, it was hard to leave the crypto space—you simply couldn’t find another place that matched its culture and mindset. So, I felt I didn’t really have much of a choice but to continue working in this field.
Why Solana? “I Press, It Happens”
Foresight News: As a former BTC Maxi and early contributor to the industry, what brought you to learn about Solana, and what led you to eventually join the Solana Foundation? How does joining the Solana Foundation fit into your overall career trajectory?
Lily Liu: I started using Solana in 2021. My reason for believing in it is simple: I press, it happens. This is an experience we’re already very familiar with in Web2—press a button, get an immediate response, without worrying whether the cost is one dollar or two. It feels nearly free.
If blockchains can’t offer this kind of user-friendly experience, mass adoption will be nearly impossible.
Additionally, since the public chain boom of 2017–2018, many different blockchain projects have emerged. But I believe for a blockchain to succeed, it must be exceptionally strong in two areas: community and technology.
Yet to date, only a small number of blockchain projects have both a strong community and strong technology. First, it must have solid technical foundations and standards. Second, it needs to build a complete ecosystem and attract developers.
Although many blockchain projects exist today, only about four or five truly stand out in both aspects: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and possibly Cosmos, Polkadot, or Near.
While the blockchain space hosts many innovative ideas, fewer than five projects likely combine strong technology, culture, and ecosystem. In Ethereum’s dominant scaling approach, people have largely accepted that transactions can’t stay entirely on the mainnet. For non-technical individuals like myself, this presents an intriguing challenge—how to find unique growth models within decentralized ecosystems. Solana offers a new growth model suited for decentralized ecosystems—one that doesn’t rely on traditional Silicon Valley or Web2 methods.
Foresight News: What do your colleagues at the Solana Foundation have in common? Any memorable experiences or team members?
Lily Liu: I really enjoy the work culture at the Solana Foundation and have collaborated well with everyone. Most colleagues at the Solana Foundation genuinely believe in decentralization and execute accordingly—this is a core principle in our work.
Many blockchain projects that emerged in 2017–2018 ultimately went in one of two directions: either enterprise blockchains or EVM compatibility, leaving little room to rebuild an independent technical system and community ecosystem.
To truly succeed, you need both strong technology and strong conviction.
Asia-Pacific + West = Macro-Level Decentralized Collaboration
Lily Liu believes the blockchain industry consists of only two major markets: the Western market led by the U.S. and the Asia-Pacific market led by Chinese-speaking regions. Only these two markets have both strong developer communities and capital-rich financial markets.
She also emphasizes that markets may lean toward Asia-Pacific while technology leans toward the West—‘independent developers are the core asset of blockchain.’ Regardless, the developer market remains paramount.
Foresight News: We understand you’re a Chinese-American who has lived and worked in various Asian cities for many years, speak fluent Chinese, and even studied East Asian cultures in college. From your perspective, how does the Asia-Pacific market differ from Western markets? What are its biggest strengths and weaknesses in Web3 development?
Lily Liu: I believe there are two major markets in blockchain: the Western blockchain market led by the U.S., and the Asian blockchain market led by Chinese-speaking regions. Only these two markets have both strong developer communities and sufficient capital-backed financial markets.
The Chinese-speaking market is extremely important—even though policy constraints sometimes create limitations, it remains highly attractive. Comparatively, the Western market tends to focus more on core technology; many deeply technical blockchain projects originate in places like Silicon Valley or Europe. But in terms of market scale, Asia is stronger—thanks to its massive population and consumer potential. Asia also plays a central role in exchange operations. In fact, about 80% to 90% of current trading volume flows through exchanges based in Asia.
In short, markets may lie in Asia-Pacific, while technology leans toward the West. These two markets aren’t entirely separate—they still intersect to some extent—but they do have cultural differences.
When engaging with some U.S.-based projects, I find at least half lack a deep understanding of the Asia-Pacific region’s role. Therefore, within the blockchain industry, we need greater awareness of regional characteristics and the distinct roles each region plays in global collaboration. Sometimes, projects and markets themselves aren’t even aware they’re cooperating. This reflects Web3’s broader geographical decentralization—different nodes play different roles, collaborating despite incomplete mutual understanding.
Within Solana, we’ve observed that over 80% of SOL’s core trading volume flows through exchanges in the Asia-Pacific region. Some of our colleagues were genuinely surprised—they hadn’t realized this proportion was so high.
Foresight News: We’ve noticed Solana is very active in North America and Europe, enjoying strong consensus among both developers and users. However, in Asia-Pacific, especially Chinese-speaking regions, visibility and engagement were relatively limited before. This year, however, Solana’s presence has grown significantly—we’re hearing much more discussion about Solana. Is this related to a strategic shift at the Solana Foundation? And what role have you played in this transition?
Lily Liu: I joined the Solana Foundation in 2021 and have long hoped to help Solana grow in the Asia-Pacific region.
Over the past two years, many things have happened globally and within crypto, and we never quite found the right timing. So we waited—thoughtfully and patiently—until late last year and early this year, when the opportunity arose to prioritize this expansion. We’ve been closely monitoring market developments, and changes in Hong Kong’s policies signaled renewed openness in the Chinese-speaking market.
We already had a relatively healthy ecosystem in the Chinese-speaking region, but due to macro conditions and the FTX collapse last year, we decided in February and March of this year to significantly increase our investment in Chinese-speaking and broader Asia-Pacific markets.
Foresight News: How important do you view the Asia-Pacific market for Solana’s long-term development?
Lily Liu: Extremely important. We’ve spent two years building a developer-focused growth strategy in India, and are expanding internationally in Europe—especially Germany and the UK. While these markets are important, none match the Asia-Pacific region in terms of comprehensive, balanced development—both in developer talent and capital market maturity.
Internally, we assess markets based on labor markets (developer talent) and capital markets.
The labor market refers mainly to developers—because in blockchain, the most critical asset is independent developers. No matter what, the developer market is the most important.
There are many developer hubs globally—Silicon Valley, New York, India, Germany—but few markets combine strong labor and capital market attributes.
Only two markets have both strong labor and capital markets: the U.S. and the Chinese-speaking market.
Solana Has Some Killer Moves Coming
On one hand, Solana continues focusing on hackathons and developer ecosystems. On the other, many innovations are underway, expected to show results by end of this year or early next year.
Foresight News: Looking at Solana’s data over the past six months, there’s been strong recovery in both technical progress and TVL growth. From your perspective, what have been the biggest changes at Solana recently? What’s the core reason behind Solana’s ecosystem resilience?
Another factor is Solana’s media exposure in Asia-Pacific. Perhaps six months ago, or even a year ago, we wouldn’t have done this interview—Solana received far less media attention.
Lily Liu: Our main focus has been on developers—for example, earlier this month we launched a new hackathon, ‘Solana Hyperdrive’.
Foresight News: The current public chain landscape has changed dramatically compared to a year ago—Layer2 projects are growing fast, EVM ecosystems have strong first-mover advantages, and new chains keep emerging. High-performance narratives seem less compelling now. How do you view the competition? What positioning and strategic adjustments is Solana making? Which specific areas will Solana prioritize moving forward?
Lily Liu: First, why do we need high-performance public chains? To me, this is self-evident. The reason I’m drawn to Solana is the desire for blockchain to support diverse use cases—many of which require high performance.
We’ve become accustomed to Ethereum’s mainnet, much like using a 56K dial-up modem decades ago—connecting via phone lines, taking half an hour to download a song. That’s similar to how we experience blockchain today. Performance limitations must be addressed.
Second, what kind of solution delivers the best user experience? I believe Layer2 works well for Ethereum—it’s a solid solution—but it still has drawbacks, like needing separate modules for every application back in the broadband era.
As for Solana’s roadmap, there will be notable advancements by year-end or early next year. Among them is “Firedancer,” which achieved 1 million TPS in internal testing—real-world performance may reach 100,000 TPS, sufficient for high-frequency trading applications.
And this runs natively on Solana’s mainnet. Technically, this will make Solana one of the few blockchains outside Ethereum with multiple fully independent validator clients.
Another key technical innovation is State Compression, launched earlier this year. Its most visible impact is drastically reducing NFT costs.
Now, minting 100,000 NFTs on Solana costs about $100—on Ethereum, it could cost $500,000. That gap is enormous. This isn’t just about cost—it’s about unlocking innovation. Lower costs mean performance isn’t just speed—it expands creative possibilities.
If creating 100,000 NFTs costs only $100, NFTs can evolve from an application into infrastructure—enabling countless new use cases.
For example, you could embed NFTs directly into wallets—something previously unfeasible. Solana’s performance and cost efficiency allow NFTs to become foundational infrastructure, vastly expanding their utility.
In short, state compression is a major technical leap this year—it reduces blockchain usage costs and expands innovation frontiers, helping blockchain technology apply more broadly across domains.
Bear Markets Are Builder’s Best Time
Lily Liu believes hackathons provide a space for top independent developers to exchange ideas and spark innovation.
Foresight News: We heard Solana’s fall hackathon has launched, with a prize pool of $1 million—an unusually large investment in the current market. Solana’s hackathons are renowned in the industry and have produced many star projects. From your perspective, what sets Solana’s hackathons apart from others? What resources does Solana offer to winning teams?
Lily Liu: Yes, hackathons offer not just prizes but opportunities to bring developers together to innovate and compete. They concentrate energy and creativity within a defined timeframe. We’ve done this for several years with great success—not only fostering innovation but also strengthening community.
We usually divide the timeline into two parts: half for development and training, the other half for community activation and collaboration. This encourages creative collisions among independent developers and provides a supportive environment to explore novel ideas—promoting broader community interaction and cooperation.
Foresight News: Do you have any advice for builders in the industry?
Lily Liu: This is my third bear market since entering the industry. I believe bear markets are the best time for builders. Even though sentiment may turn pessimistic, it’s actually a great time to innovate and think about future opportunities.
During bear markets, people have more time and space to deeply examine the essence of blockchain technology, understand why it matters, and explore its innovative potential. It’s a precious time to reflect, generate new ideas, and build valuable projects.
No one knows how long the bear market will last, but markets will eventually change.
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