Product Keynote: Baillie Gifford

A portfolio manager from one of the world's most storied investment firms took the stage at Breakpoint 2025 with a provocative message: traditional finance needs to stop watching from the sidelines and start building on Solana immediately. Theo Golden, tokenization lead at Baillie Gifford—the 120-year-old, partner-owned asset manager famous for early investments in Tesla, SpaceX, Amazon, and Stripe—delivered an impassioned call for collaboration between institutional finance and the blockchain ecosystem.

Summary

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Theo Golden's keynote represented a significant moment for Solana's institutional narrative. Speaking on behalf of a firm managing approximately $300 billion in assets, Golden articulated a vision where traditional capital markets infrastructure eventually migrates on-chain. His message carried extra weight given Baillie Gifford's reputation for identifying transformative technologies early—the same firm that backed some of the most successful companies of the past two decades is now publicly declaring its commitment to blockchain infrastructure.

The presentation wasn't just theoretical positioning. Golden demonstrated genuine personal experience within the Solana ecosystem, referencing his own use of Solana wallets, trading on pump.fun, and deploying capital on DeFi protocols like Jupiter and Kamino. This hands-on familiarity distinguished his talk from typical institutional commentary, adding credibility to his argument that traditional finance players need to genuinely understand blockchain technology rather than observe it from a distance.

Golden's core thesis centered on convergence: institutions must work toward a future where tokenized assets exist natively on-chain without the need for mirroring or parallel systems. He acknowledged this requires finding the right balance on what he called the "decentralization arc"—meeting regulatory requirements while preserving the benefits that make blockchain technology valuable in the first place. The stakes, according to Golden, extend beyond institutional profit to broader social outcomes, suggesting that on-chain capital markets could improve financial access for everyone in society.

Key Points:

The Institutional Case for On-Chain Capital Markets

Golden made an unambiguous prediction: building on-chain infrastructure will become "economically self-evident" for all financial institutions. This represents a significant evolution from the exploratory phase many institutions have occupied for years. Rather than treating blockchain as an interesting experiment, Golden argues that the operational efficiencies and capabilities of on-chain systems will eventually make them the obvious choice for financial infrastructure.

The path to this future, however, requires reducing what Golden called "all-in operational risk." Institutions need confidence that moving value on-chain doesn't introduce new categories of risk that outweigh the benefits. This means the Solana ecosystem and traditional finance must work together to address regulatory, security, and operational concerns while preserving the technological advantages that make blockchain compelling.

From Proof of Concepts to Production Systems

One of the most direct challenges Golden issued to traditional finance was a declaration that "the age of proof of concepts is over." Many institutions have spent years running experimental blockchain projects without committing to production deployments. Golden argued this approach must end—the only way to improve is through actual building and iteration.

He emphasized that first-generation products won't be perfect, and that's acceptable. The critical factor is getting systems live and functional so they can be refined over time. This philosophy aligns with the rapid iteration culture common in crypto development but represents a departure from traditional finance's typically cautious approach to new technology deployment.

The Collaboration Imperative

Golden repeatedly emphasized that success requires collaboration rather than collision between traditional finance and crypto-native communities. If the two worlds work against each other or fail to find common ground, the transformation of capital markets will stall. Both sides bring essential capabilities: institutions bring capital, regulatory expertise, and client relationships, while the Solana ecosystem provides technological innovation and operational infrastructure.

The speech acknowledged several institutions already making progress in this direction, including State Street (whose launch was announced during the conference) and Apollo. However, Golden was clear that the pace of institutional adoption needs to accelerate significantly beyond these early movers.

Scaling DeFi Through Institutional Flow

A key mechanism Golden identified for ecosystem growth is channeling institutional capital into Solana's DeFi protocols. While retail activity has driven much of Solana's DeFi growth, institutional participation could dramatically increase liquidity and stability. This scaling, however, comes with regulatory conditions that the ecosystem must be prepared to accommodate.

Finding the right position on the decentralization spectrum represents one of the central challenges. Too much centralization defeats the purpose of blockchain infrastructure, but insufficient accommodation of regulatory requirements will prevent institutional participation. Golden suggested this balance point exists and can be found through active collaboration.

Facts + Figures

• Baillie Gifford is a 120-year-old, partner-owned asset management firm managing approximately $300 billion in assets under management

• The firm is known for early investments in transformative companies including SpaceX, Tesla, Stripe, Amazon, and Alibaba

• Theo Golden has been involved in cryptocurrency for nearly 10 years

• Golden serves as both portfolio manager and tokenization lead at Baillie Gifford

• State Street announced a launch during the same Breakpoint conference

• Golden has personally used Solana ecosystem applications including pump.fun, Jupiter, and Kamino

• The speaker emphasized that native on-chain assets without mirroring represent the "gold standard" for tokenization

Top quotes

"The age of proof of concepts is over, and the time to build properly has come."

"I fundamentally believe that the future of capital markets will sit on chain."

"Together, we can lift the financial outcomes of everyone in society through the technology that you are building."

"Building on chain will become economically self-evident for all institutions."

"This is a collaboration not a collision. If we collide, it won't work."

"TradFi institutions need to get off the sidelines, stop procrastinating, and build, build, build."

"I've felt that intuitive joy opening up a Solana wallet for the first time and asking why the hell my mobile banking app is so bad."

"We need to reduce the all-in operational risk, and not add new ones, so that the decision to hold value on chain is an economically self-evident one."

"The first generation of projects and products won't be perfect. But we can get better. And the only way we're going to get better is by bringing things on chain and actually using them."

Questions Answered

Why is a traditional asset manager like Baillie Gifford interested in Solana?

Baillie Gifford has built its reputation on identifying transformative technologies early, from Tesla to SpaceX to Stripe. The firm sees the same pattern of creative disruption and rapid innovation happening in the blockchain space, particularly on Solana. Golden described observing the "sheer velocity of innovation on chain" and believes that capital markets will eventually migrate to blockchain infrastructure, making it essential for forward-looking institutions to engage now rather than waiting until the transformation is complete.

What does "convergence" mean for tokenization on Solana?

Golden described convergence as the movement toward fully native on-chain assets without the need for mirroring or parallel systems. Currently, many tokenization efforts involve creating blockchain representations of assets that still exist in traditional systems, requiring reconciliation between the two. The gold standard, according to Golden, is assets that exist solely on-chain, eliminating the complexity and risk of maintaining parallel records. This requires both technological development and regulatory accommodation.

What should traditional finance institutions do differently regarding blockchain?

According to Golden, institutions need to take three specific actions. First, they must be present—showing up, learning, and participating in conversations rather than observing from a distance. Second, they need to build actual products and systems, moving beyond proof of concepts to production deployments. Third, they must accelerate their timelines significantly, as the industry has spent too long in exploratory phases without committing to real development.

How can institutional capital benefit the Solana DeFi ecosystem?

Institutional flow could dramatically scale Solana's DeFi protocols by bringing substantial new liquidity and capital. While retail activity has driven significant growth, institutional participation represents a different magnitude of capital that could deepen markets and improve efficiency. However, this institutional flow comes with regulatory requirements, meaning the ecosystem must find ways to accommodate compliance needs while preserving the benefits of decentralized finance.

What risks concern institutions about moving to on-chain systems?

Golden identified operational risk as the primary concern for institutions considering on-chain systems. The decision to hold value on blockchain must not introduce new categories of risk that outweigh the benefits. This means addressing security, regulatory compliance, custody, and integration challenges. The goal is to reduce overall operational risk compared to traditional systems, making the choice to build on-chain obvious from a risk-adjusted perspective.

Why does Golden emphasize collaboration over competition between TradFi and DeFi?

Both sides bring essential capabilities that neither possesses alone. Traditional finance contributes capital, regulatory expertise, established client relationships, and operational scale. The Solana ecosystem provides technological innovation, speed of development, and novel infrastructure capabilities. If these communities work against each other or fail to find common ground, neither achieves the transformative potential of on-chain capital markets. Golden explicitly warned that collision rather than collaboration would cause the entire effort to fail.