Solana's tokenized real-world assets hit $2B, growing 43% in Q1 despite crypto market downturn.

In Q1 2026, Solana's tokenized real-world assets surged 43% to $2.01 billion, driven by Blackrock's BUIDL and other tokenized products, showing strong institutional interest. Despite a 33% drop in SOL price and a 22% decline in DeFi value locked, Solana's application revenue remained stable at $342.2 million, with notable growth in AI-themed trading apps. The network is preparing for a major upgrade, Alpenglow, to drastically improve transaction speed and scalability, signaling a focus on long-term infrastructure over speculative trading.