Circle minted $750 million in USDC on Solana on May 1st, increasing the stablecoin’s supply on the network by 20%. The move signals a broader shift of institutional capital from Ethereum to Solana, with $2.1 billion moving via the Wormhole bridge in Q1 alone.
This is not new money entering crypto but existing capital preferring Solana as its execution layer. Traditional finance players are backing the trend: Société Générale issued a €100 million bond on Solana, Franklin Templeton launched a $280 million tokenized money market fund there, and both Visa and Stripe now route USDC settlements through the network.
Solana price predictions for May are now pricing in a YES outcome for reaching $170, while Ethereum’s odds of hitting $10,000 by year-end 2026 sit at just 3.8%, reflecting a modest but telling shift in market sentiment.