Solana Foundation Appoints Former Binance CMO and Polygon Executive to Lead Institutional Strategy

The Solana Foundation has appointed Rachel Conlan as chief strategy officer and Jamal Raees as general manager of payments, signaling a strategic shift toward institutional finance and payment settlement.

Conlan previously served three years as Binance's global chief marketing officer and held senior positions at OKX, CAA Sports, and Havas. At Solana, her responsibilities will encompass institutional partnerships, ecosystem growth, and go-to-market strategy.

Raees, who previously worked at Polygon Labs, will focus on payments infrastructure, including stablecoins, tokenized deposits, and the broader systems needed to position Solana as a financial settlement network.

The Foundation cited significant growth metrics to justify the strategic hires: Solana processed more than $5 trillion in stablecoin volume during 2026, while real-world assets on the network exceeded $4.5 billion and tokenized equity supply surpassed $620 million.

Solana's strategic direction reflects a broader shift away from its earlier emphasis on trading, NFTs, and consumer applications. The network is increasingly positioning itself as a payments and tokenization platform competing with Ethereum and its Layer 2 networks, as well as newer payment-focused chains.

The Foundation emphasized that institutional adoption requires more than technological capability. Banks, asset managers, and payment companies need partnerships, compliance integration, and leadership who can translate blockchain infrastructure into products compatible with existing financial operations.