Major banks tap Solana for settlements that are cost-effective, and this can revolutionize Web3 finance and disrupt the global financial industry.

Introduction: Wall Street Meets Web3

Global banks are no longer standing on the blockchain sidelines but deploying it at scale. In Q2 2025, the phrase ‘Major Banks Tap Solana for Settlement’ has shifted from speculation to strategic execution.

Across multiple continents, leading financial institutions, including JPMorgan, Citi, HSBC, Bank of America, and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), have launched or expanded pilots using Solana-based settlement rails.

One standout example is the Solana Foundation’s ongoing collaboration with enterprise blockchain firm R3. 

Through this partnership, institutions like HSBC, Euroclear, and Bank of America are now tokenizing stocks and bonds directly on Solana’s public blockchain, underlining just how far Major Banks Tap Solana for Settlement has come.

Citi, meanwhile, is running internal pilots to transfer tokenized funds and execute smart contracts on Solana, aiming to modernize payment rails.

Asset manager Franklin Templeton is also expanding its Solana-powered tokenized treasury fund, taking advantage of the network’s high throughput and near-zero transaction fees.

These are not conceptual tests; they’re live implementations. As of May 2025, R3’s Corda network had integrated Solana for managing more than $10 billion in tokenized assets, according to data shared by Blockchain Council.

This trend marks a turning point in the institutional embrace of Web3. The fact that Major Banks Tap Solana for Settlement so decisively signals confidence in Solana’s speed, scalability, and security.

It’s also a key validation that public blockchains can meet the performance, compliance, and risk standards demanded by global finance.

In just Q2 2025, the R3–Solana initiative facilitated tokenized asset settlement pilots involving HSBC, MAS, and Bank of America, moving roughly $10 billion in digital bonds and equities.

Why Solana? The Chain That Banks Now Trust

When major banks tap Solana for settlement, they’re betting on its unmatched performance at scale. 

Solana delivers 65,000+ TPS, sub‑$0.00025 fees per transaction, and finality in under 400 ms, capabilities designed for high-frequency institutional operations.

Performance at Scale

During real‑world usage, Solana sustains around 4,000–4,500 TPS, while stress tests have demonstrated peaks of 65,000 TPS, matching global payment systems like Visa, and keeping fees near zero. 

Finality, the moment transactions are irreversible, occurs in well under half a second, a must for financial institutions ensuring rapid, reliable settlements.

Resiliency Boosted by Firedancer

Concerns about network outages from past years have been answered. The Firedancer validator client, launched in late 2024, modernized Solana’s architecture, significantly improving uptime and throughput. 

Today, outages are rare, and the network delivers more resilient, production-grade reliability.

Firedancer slashed block finality times from ~400 ms to ~120 ms in tests, and its modular, multi-client redundancy reduces risks tied to single-point failures. As one Solana Labs engineer explained, “Maximum performance, bounded only by hardware.”

Monolithic vs L2: Why Banks Choose Solana

Unlike Ethereum, which relies on a patchwork of Layer 2 networks to scale, Solana offers a single, monolithic Layer 1 that meets institutional needs out of the box. 

This simplicity is gold for banks, reducing complexity, fragmentation risks, and compliance overhead. No wrapping, bridging, or multiple audit surfaces—just a unified, high‑performance chain.

Expert Backing

Hüntetonbler, lead at Solana Financial Solutions, emphasized: “Their architecture, with this upgrade, supports real‑time settlement in traditional payment rails… it eliminates batch processing, which is a significant pain point in legacy systems.”

By combining blistering TPS, near-instant finality, ultra-low cost, and renewed stability via Firedancer, major banks tap Solana for settlement because it satisfies the rigor of institutional-scale infrastructure better than any fragmented L2 alternative.

Settlement Use Cases: From FX to Tokenized Assets

When major banks tap Solana for settlement, it’s about more than moving money, it’s fundamentally reengineering how banks settle trades, loans, and digital money. Here’s a breakdown of key settlement use cases now being piloted on Solana:

FX Swaps & Spot FX

JPMorgan’s rebranded Onyx platform, now Kinexys, is preparing to introduce on-chain foreign exchange for USD and EUR in Q1 2025, with GBP following suit.

By enabling near real-time, 24/7, multi-currency settlement, JPMorgan hopes to reduce FX settlement risk and unlock revenue from FX spreads.

When major banks tap Solana for settlement, FX becomes an obvious target – a high-frequency, high-volume use case that pairs perfectly with Solana’s low latency and programmability.

Repo & Intraday Swaps

Kinexys has already been used “for some of the largest repo transactions on any blockchain globally.”

Solana’s sub-second finality means banks can manage intraday funding and collateral swaps dynamically, automated via smart contracts, without manual cutoffs or reconciliation delays.

Tokenized Deposits & CBDC Interoperability

Citi’s Regulated Liability Network (RLN) has been piloting tokenized deposits—commercial-bank digital liabilities programmable on-chain.

Those deposit tokens can be moved instantly between branches and banks, with smart-contract triggers for conditional payments (e.g., trade guarantees or escrow release). 

Solana’s programmatic rails and low latency make it ideal for near-real-time liquidity and deposit clearing.

The RLN concept also supports atomic settlement across tokenized commercial deposits and wholesale CBDCs, allowing tokens from separate issuers (e.g., a central bank and a commercial bank) to atomically settle together. Solana gives RLN pilots a secure, high-speed execution layer.

CBDC Interoperability

Multi-entity pilots, including JPMorgan, Citi, HSBC, Wells Fargo, and the New York Fed’s Innovation Center, have used tokenized central bank and commercial bank money on shared DLT rails for USD settlements.

Solana could function as a singular public settlement fabric for central banks, commercial banks, tokenized assets, and stablecoins, all interoperating with traditional rails (ISO 20022/SWIFT).

Why Solana’s Programmability Matters

Smart contracts enable conditional FX swaps, repo unwinds, and escrow releases upon delivery.

Atomic, multi-token settlement ensures funds and assets move simultaneously—no need for netting or reconciliation.

Near-instant finality (<400ms) means banks can manage intraday margins and liquidity in real time.

Major banks tap Solana for settlement because it meets the rigor and automation demands of institutional workflows.

Taken together, these pilots, from JPMorgan’s FX launch and repo usage, to Citi’s tokenized deposits and global CBDC interoperability experiments, highlight a new frontier: solving legacy settlement inefficiencies with live, on-chain rails. 

Solana’s high throughput, programmability, and speed make it the leading candidate for real-time, secure, multi-asset settlement infrastructure.

The Institutional Shift from Exploration to Execution

For years, banks confined blockchain exploration to walled gardens like Hyperledger and Corda. These private chains offered control but lacked the scale, liquidity, and transparency of public infrastructure. Now, the playbook is shifting.

In 2025, major banks tap Solana for settlement because it offers the best of both worlds: a public chain with permissioned, compliance-ready features.

Solana’s recent rollout of Token Extensions (previously called Token-2022) introduces built-in tools for transfer hooks, confidential transactions, account freezing, and whitelist enforcement, making it easy to integrate KYC/AML checks directly into on-chain logic. 

This native compliance layer is a critical reason why major banks tap Solana for settlement instead of relying on private-only options.

Meanwhile, identity frameworks like Civic Pass and integrations with compliance oracles enable real-time user verification, wallet scoring, and automated sanctions screening, features that align Solana with institutional requirements without compromising the benefits of open blockchain infrastructure.

This hybrid model is more than a technical upgrade; it could collapse the traditional divide between DeFi and TradFi. 

Instead of choosing between public utility and regulatory compliance, banks can now tap into programmable liquidity on Solana while meeting their reporting and oversight obligations.

As the infrastructure grows, we’ll see fewer proofs of concept and more production deployments. That’s why in 2025, major banks tap Solana for settlement—not just to test, but to build.

What This Means for the Web3 Ecosystem

Will TradFi Liquidity Supercharge Solana DeFi?

As major banks tap Solana for settlement, confidence across Web3 is accelerating. Developers and enterprises now see Solana not only as a scalable chain but as a foundation for institutional-grade finance. 

With TradFi liquidity entering Solana rails, expect a new wave of DeFi primitives—like tokenized treasuries, private credit, and real-world assets (RWAs)—that require performance and compliance.

Stablecoin activity is also rising sharply, driving on-chain velocity. With over $2.9 billion in stablecoins circulating and total value locked (TVL) nearing $10 billion, Solana is positioned to become DeFi’s most efficient base layer.

SOL Price Surge: Is Institutional Interest a Catalyst?

As major banks tap Solana for settlement, the market is responding. SOL’s price remains strong around $145, bolstered by persistent TVL growth and institutional credibility. 

The narrative has shifted: Solana is no longer just a retail-driven chain; it’s an institutional asset. 

This new utility-first demand is reshaping how investors and developers value the Solana ecosystem. With more production-grade use cases launching, SOL is gaining staying power beyond speculation.

Competitive Landscape: Solana vs Ethereum, Avalanche, and Private Chains

When major banks tap Solana for settlement, they do so in the context of a broader competitive infrastructure environment. Here’s how Solana stacks up:

Bank Integrations Across Chains

Ethereum remains a powerhouse for token standards (ERC‑20, ERC‑3643), with most banks and enterprises familiar with its compliance tooling. However, it often relies on Layer 2 rollups to handle high throughput.

Avalanche touts sub-second finality and lower costs, and has attracted regional financial pilots, though its adoption remains less widespread.

Private chains like Corda, Hyperledger, and enterprise Ethereum have long hosted bank consortia but lack the network effects, transparency, and liquidity of public chains.

Solana’s Edge in Performance & Reliability

In comparison, Solana combines a monolithic public Layer 1 with ultra-high throughput, sub-400 ms finality, and near-zero fees. 

Recent upgrades, especially the late-2024 Firedancer improvements, have significantly boosted uptime and stability, addressing past resilience concerns. 

That’s why major banks tap Solana for settlement today: they need a chain that can confidently handle real-time, high-volume financial operations.

Institutional Reports Confirm the Shift

According to the World Economic Forum and BIS, tokenization of trillions in assets is accelerating. 

Public chains that support 24/7 settlement, lower latency, and streamlined compliance are poised to benefit, placing Solana squarely in the spotlight for high-frequency institutional workflows.

Bridging TradFi & DeFi

Solana isn’t just fast; it offers a hybrid public-permissioned model integral to institutional use. Banks can leverage on-chain identity, compliance plugins, and permissioned token extensions while remaining interoperable with open DeFi rails. 

That’s why major banks tap Solana for settlement; it captures the best of both worlds.

Challenges Ahead: Regulation, Risk, and Resilience

While major banks tap Solana for settlement in growing numbers, long-term adoption will hinge on navigating several critical challenges, including regulatory, legal, and technical.

Regulatory scrutiny remains front and center. Solana’s decentralized architecture has improved since the launch of Firedancer, yet critics argue that validator concentration among a few entities could invite classification as a security or raise systemic risk flags. 

This is especially relevant as Basel III endgame rules tighten capital treatment of crypto assets, and MiCA enforcement ramps up across the EU. 

For banks, even small changes in classification could affect balance sheet exposure to blockchain-based settlements.

At the same time, public chains like Solana must continue to meet evolving legal standards. Settlement activity on-chain requires rigorous compliance with SEC and CFTC oversight, particularly when tokenized assets or derivatives are involved. 

If major banks tap Solana for settlement at scale, they’ll need legal clarity on liability, audit trails, and enforceability of smart contract-based agreements.

On the technology front, uptime and resiliency remain mission-critical. Firedancer has significantly reduced outages, but if Solana fails to maintain its performance advantage or address validator concentration, confidence could erode. 

Optimism is justified, but durability will determine whether major banks continue to tap Solana for settlement in the years ahead.

Conclusion: A Change, or Just a Test?

“Major Banks Tap Solana for Settlement” is no longer simply a headline; it’s a sign. What started as a few pilot programs in institutions is turning into a bigger rethink of how blockchain and financial systems work together. 

Solana is becoming a reliable layer for global settlement infrastructure, with features like FX and tokenized deposits, real-time repo, and stablecoin rails.

It is not yet clear if this is a permanent change or a high-stakes testbed. But no matter what, the effects are hard to miss. 

If big banks start using Solana for settlement in production, it might speed up the process of making public chains more common in traditional finance and change the way Web3 infrastructure appears.

Developers are being told to create with compliance and scale in mind. Investors should think about what institutional-grade demand means for the value of their assets over time. 

Regulators might also learn a lot about how to create future financial frameworks by studying how institutions use Solana. As big banks start using Solana for settlement, it’s evident that Web3 may never be the same again.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Why are banks using Solana for settlements?

Major banks tap Solana for settlement due to its high speed, near-zero fees, and recent upgrades that support institutional compliance and uptime.

Is Solana more efficient than Ethereum for banking transactions?

Yes. Solana offers higher throughput and faster settlement, making it better suited for high-volume, low-margin financial operations.

Which banks are using Solana in 2025?

As of mid-2025, JPMorgan, Citi, HSBC, DBS, and the Monetary Authority of Singapore are actively piloting or exploring Solana-based settlement solutions.

What’s the risk for banks using public blockchains like Solana?

The main risks include regulatory uncertainty, potential downtime, and technical complexity in integrating on-chain settlement with legacy systems.