How Institutions Are Moving Onchain | Catherine Gu

About this episode

Catherine Gu discusses her transition from Visa to Solana and the institutional adoption of blockchain technology.

Gm! In today’s episode, we’re joined by Catherine Gu, Head of Product, Digital Assets at Solana, to discuss her transition from Visa to Solana, the institutional adoption of blockchain, tokenization, payments infrastructure, and developer platforms. We also cover privacy and compliance challenges, onchain metrics, liquidity dynamics, and Solana’s vision for internet capital markets.Enjoy! -- Follow Lightspeed: ⁠https://x.com/Lightspeedpodhq Follow Solana: https://x.com/Solana Follow Catherine: https://x.com/catgu_ Follow Danny: https://x.com/defi_kay_ Join the Lightspeed Telegram: ⁠https://t.me/+QHlbNTNS4gc1ZTVh -- Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ -- Timestamps: (0:00) Introduction (1:31) Catherine's Crypto Journey (8:45) Why Solana Now (12:05) Solana Developer Platform (17:00) Privacy for Institutions (21:23) KYC and Attestations (27:50) Better Onchain Metrics (31:42) Solana’s Liquidity Pitch (35:35) Institutional Adoption Inflection (40:12) Internet Capital Markets (44:30) Memecoins, Brand, and Growth (49:25) Closing Comments -- Disclaimers: Lightspeed was kickstarted by a grant…

People in this episode

Host: Danny

Guest: Catherine Gu

Topics covered

• institutional adoption
• blockchain
• tokenization
• payments infrastructure
• privacy
• compliance
• developer platforms

Keywords

• blockchain
• institutional adoption
• Solana
• tokenization
• payments
• privacy
• compliance

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Solana, Visa, Blockworks

More episodes of Lightspeed

• Blockworks Acquires Messari · June 12, 2026 · 29 min
• Solving Sol Value Accrual · June 11, 2026 · 58 min
• The Era of Tokenized Yield Strategies | Ben Nadareski · June 9, 2026 · 50 min
• US Crypto Perps Arrive, Solana Rethinks Fees · June 4, 2026 · 1h 4m
• Building the Onchain Brokerage: Glider's Vision for Investing | Brian Huang · June 2, 2026 · 51 min
• Why Crypto Needs Interest Rate Swaps | Thomas Lefort · May 28, 2026 · 50 min