Morgan Stanley has just announced an application for a SOL spot ETF, marking another instance of Wall Street extending an olive branch to crypto assets after Bitcoin and Ethereum. Once the news broke, SOL responded with a rise, gaining over 9% within the week.

Honestly, this is a hardcore positive for Solana. It uses a compliant ticket to directly access the doors of traditional finance. The data also speaks for itself—less than half a year since the launch of the first Solana ETF, it has already mobilized over $800 million in funds.

But don’t rush to celebrate. Institutional entry is like a double-edged sword; it’s important to look at the other side carefully.

On one hand, ETFs can indeed attract incremental capital and enhance market recognition, which is fine. The problem lies on the other hand—when trading gradually shifts from on-chain to Wall Street exchanges, the influence over price speculation also shifts. The community and ecosystem narrative driving force might be diluted, and the innovative stories of Solana’s ecosystem applications could be overshadowed by capital speculation.

To put it simply, SOL’s true long-term value depends on whether the ecosystem can continue to produce blockbuster applications. Institutions are betting on the track, but ultimately, the track still relies on the community to build. While capital cheers for financial innovation, the most important "building" actually involves the intangible and unseen—on-chain activity, application development, and community consensus. These are the irreplaceable foundations of Solana.