GM. This is Milk Road, the crypto newsletter that’s more satisfying than peeling the plastic off a brand new phone.
Here’s what we’ve got for you today:
- ✍️ Solana’s biggest upgrade ever.
- ✍️ Why don’t wealthy investors plan to hold crypto long term?
- 🍪 Wall Street's crypto fear has flipped.
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SOLANA'S BIGGEST UPGRADE LANDS NEXT WEEK ⚡
Earlier this week, John (our crypto analyst) dropped a PRO post that pretty much sums up the mood on Solana right now:
“Dips are for buying IMO.”
"I like SOL at $100."
And right now, SOL is trading at ~$106, which is ~64% below its $293 all-time high from January 2025 (but ~50% above its June low).
And next Wednesday, Solana flips the switch on the biggest upgrade in its history.
It's called Alpenglow, and it replaces the voting system Solana's validators (the computers that confirm transactions) have used since day one.
This upgrade is all about finality, i.e. how long you wait before a transaction can't be reversed.
Here's what changes:
- Today, it takes ~12.8 seconds.
- After Alpenglow, the target is ~150 milliseconds (about 85x faster).
Source: Anza, Solana Foundation
For a chain whose whole pitch is speed, that's a BIG deal - especially for trading, tokenized stocks and payments (where 13 seconds is a long time to wait).
The switch is set for Oct 21 at ~14:50 UTC, after slipping from its original Sept 28 date. And it's only phase one, with phase two still undated.
Weirdly, SOL has barely moved since the date was locked in. Most analysts see Alpenglow as a slow-burn catalyst rather than an overnight pump.
So is a $106 SOL a gift, then?
Even our own analysts can't agree on what Solana is for...
On Tuesday, we asked our PRO analysts whether SOL can get back to its all-time high this cycle.
One said they'd be "shocked" if it didn't, pointing to upgrades that improve how new SOL gets issued and the growth of tokenized assets on Solana.
Another raised the catch: Solana has the most money-making apps in crypto, and those apps could end up capturing the value instead of SOL itself.
That's also where our analyst team is split.
Vincent (our lead AI analyst) thinks Solana wins the AI agent economy. That means machines paying each other in stablecoins for data, compute and APIs, and it's why he bought SOL at ~$82 back in March and April.
John thinks NEAR is the better chain for agents. When a PRO member pointed out Solana's been out-earning Ethereum on network fees, John called Solana a high-speed trading engine whose real rivals are Hyperliquid and Lighter.
He also noted its ~$6B in TVL (the money parked in its apps) is small next to the ~$60B on Ethereum and Base.
Still, John is "not bearish." He calls $100 "a great place to add," and thinks tokenized stocks will be "huge on Solana" eventually.
Source: CoinGecko, Coinranking
Before you get too excited, a few things to watch:
- Some exchanges may pause SOL deposits and withdrawals while the upgrade goes live on Wednesday.
- Expect scary "Solana activity collapsed" headlines. Validator votes stop counting as transactions after Alpenglow, so the reported numbers will drop even though nothing broke.
- John thinks BTC could test $78-80K before November, and SOL rarely gets a free pass when Bitcoin dips.
Point being: Alpenglow is the short-term catalyst, but the long-term bet is whether SOL holders capture the value Solana's apps create.
Watch Wednesday's switch, then whether SOL holds the $100-105 zone.
THEY EXPECT CRYPTO TO MAKE THEM RICH, BUT DON’T PLAN TO HOLD IT.
Ask 1,000 wealthy investors what will build the most wealth for them over the next 10 years, and crypto comes out on top at 19.2%. That beats their salary (17.3%), their stocks (16%) and their real estate (11.8%).
That's from Nexo's new Digital Wealth Survey, which polled investors with $100K+ in liquid assets in the U.S. and U.K. (and $40K+ in Argentina).
The youngest group is the most bullish. 94% of 18-to-25-year-olds own crypto, and 31% call it their #1 wealth driver.
Now ask them how long they plan to hold. Just 2% say 10+ years.
Across the whole survey, only 4.7% have fully built crypto into their long-term plan: a big allocation, a long horizon and a real role in retirement.
And what holds people back changes as they go. For people who haven't bought yet, the top barrier is a lack of understanding. Small holders worry about volatility. Once crypto is a real chunk of the portfolio, the top bracket worries are tax, security and fees.
Those are practical problems. A tax bill or a big expense can turn a 10-year hold into a 2-year one.
That's the gap Nexo is building for. On Nexo, you can earn yield on crypto you plan to keep, or borrow against it instead of selling. (Borrowing carries liquidation risk if prices fall.)
See the five types of crypto investor, and where most get stuck, in Nexo's full report.
BITE-SIZED COOKIES FOR THE ROAD 🍪
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Nexo is a premier digital asset platform that allows you to borrow against 30+ crypto assets, with rates starting from 0.9% per year. Open a credit line with Nexo today.
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