Raoul Pal Names Winner of Coin Hegemony in AI Era..."Solana is the answer, not Bitcoin"

▲ Solana (SOL), Bitcoin (BTC)/AI Generated Image

Real Vision CEO Raoul Pal stated that he would choose Solana (SOL) over Bitcoin (BTC), igniting a debate that the next growth axis of the cryptocurrency market could shift from value storage assets to high-speed networks. Pal emphasized the role of cryptocurrencies in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) era, evaluating Solana as more suitable for machine-to-machine micropayments and DeFi activities.

Bitcoinist reported on May 10 (local time) that Pal said he would choose Solana if he had to pick between Bitcoin and Solana at the Consensus 2026 event in Miami. Pal expressed this view amidst discussions surrounding whether the next phase of the cryptocurrency industry would lead to Bitcoin's role as a store of value or revolve around high-speed networks capable of handling large-scale activities.

Pal's choice is not merely a comparison of assets but is linked to growth opportunities in the AI era. He described cryptocurrencies as 'Universal Basic Equity' in the age of AI. This is closer to the perception that in an AI-driven economy, cryptocurrencies could function not just as investment targets but as a right to participate in the new digital economy.

The reason Pal focused on Solana is its high throughput and low transaction costs. He saw Solana as potentially more suitable for machine-to-machine micropayments, AI-based activities, and fast DeFi transactions. Bitcoin, on the other hand, primarily functions as a monetary asset but is not designed as a high-frequency execution layer to process millions of small, automated transactions.

AI agents were also presented as a key rationale supporting Pal's preference for Solana. He predicted that within the next five years, AI agents would account for 60% of DeFi users, surpassing human users. This implies a structure where three AI agents operate for every two human users in the DeFi market.

This outlook explains why Solana is considered an asset with greater growth potential than Bitcoin. AI agents require networks that can handle frequent and cheap transactions, and Pal observed that Solana has surpassed Ethereum (ETH) in this area in recent years. Bitcoinist reported that while the likelihood of Solana outperforming Bitcoin in terms of growth rate is not high at this point, Pal's remarks align with the discussions on AI agents, DeFi, tokenization, stablecoins, and institutional crypto infrastructure highlighted at Consensus 2026.

Meanwhile, Arthur Hayes, Chief Investment Officer of Maelstrom, argued on the main stage of the event that cryptocurrencies do not need regulation and exist outside the existing system. This was presented as a statement contrasting with the general atmosphere of regulatory acceptance seen throughout the event. Kevin O'Leary mentioned the importance of AI in inter-country competition for the US, and Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse stated that he does not view AI as a tool for workforce reduction.

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