Solana Founders Criticize AI Agents and Pump.fun

A recent survey polled 42 Solana founders and received candid answers on a very wide range of crypto-related topics. The responses showed high favorability for Solana meme coins and a belief that the blockchain’s payment capacities are underrated.

These same responses showed a strong distaste for Pump.fun and ambivalence to the existence of a “Solana cabal.”

Solana Founders Speak Up

Journalist Jack Kubinec carried out this survey, managing to get responses from 42 Solana founders. Solana is an important powerhouse in the blockchain ecosystem, and these figures had strong opinions on a number of topics. However, the identities of these founders remain a mystery, so the survey can’t necessarily predict Solana’s trajectory.

“I anonymously polled 42 Solana founders to get their unfiltered opinions on other chains, VCs, startups, the cabal, and more. Responses were spicy!” claimed Kubinec.

For one thing, these founders overwhelmingly agree on one survey question: if you had to work on a blockchain other than Solana, what would you choose? More than half chose either Base, which recently outpaced Ethereum in user growth, or SUI, with its similar growth and exciting tech development. This was one of the most unanimous responses.

Other strong points of survey consensus include Solana meme coins, which 32 founders called “mostly good for Solana.” Compare this to the alleged “Solana cabal,” which had nearly even responses in every category. In any event, only one founder claimed it was an important concern.

As far as crypto VC goes, the founders thought Multichain was by far the best, while Binance Labs was narrowly the worst. Additionally, they claimed that sandwich attacks are the most pressing concern for Solana’s ecosystem, but only by a slim margin. They also said that even after two years, the company’s old FTX ties are still the biggest threat to its reputation.

The survey also asked these founders which Solana startup they would most and least wish to join. Jito had the highest level of support, while a significant majority wasn’t keen to work with Pump.fun.

Additionally, they claimed that AI agents are overrated and that Solana’s usage in payments doesn’t get enough credit. This was a rather surprising finding, as AI agents were among the top crypto trends of 2024.

This survey data is completely anonymous, so it’s impossible to connect these founders attitudes to Solana’s future trajectory. Nonetheless, it still provides significant insights into how they are viewing the crypto industry as a whole.