Raoul Pal Names His Next 100x Crypto Trade — and It Is Not Bitcoin, Ethereum, or XRP
Raoul Pal, the former Goldman Sachs executive and founder of financial media network Real Vision, has revealed the next crypto asset he believes could deliver a 100x return. In a recent interview and subsequent social media posts, Pal made clear that his pick is not Bitcoin, Ethereum, or XRP — the three largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. Instead, he is betting on a network that has already survived a near-death experience and is now positioning itself at the center of a trillion-dollar financial shift.
Why Solana, Not Bitcoin or Ethereum
Pal’s thesis rests on a simple observation: the next bull market in crypto will be driven not by speculative trading of coins, but by the practical tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs). This includes everything from U.S. Treasury bills and corporate bonds to real estate and commodities. Pal argues that Solana, with its high throughput and low transaction fees, is the blockchain best positioned to capture this market.
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“Bitcoin is digital gold. Ethereum is the decentralized computer. But the next 100x is going to come from the infrastructure that actually brings traditional finance on-chain,” Pal said in a video published by Real Vision on March 25. “Solana is the only network that can handle the volume and speed that Wall Street demands.”
Pal’s comments echo a growing consensus among institutional investors. In 2024, tokenized U.S. Treasury products on public blockchains surpassed $1 billion in value, with platforms like Ondo Finance and Maple Finance building on Solana to offer institutional-grade products. According to data from RWA.xyz, Solana-based tokenized assets grew by over 300% in the first quarter of 2025 alone.
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The Network Recovery Story
Pal’s endorsement comes at a time when Solana has largely recovered from the 2022 FTX collapse, which severely impacted the network due to its close ties to the exchange. The SOL token fell from an all-time high of $260 in November 2021 to below $10 in late 2022. Since then, the network has rebuilt its developer ecosystem, improved uptime after a series of outages, and attracted major institutional partnerships.
In February 2025, asset manager Franklin Templeton announced it would expand its on-chain money market fund to Solana, following similar moves by BlackRock and Citigroup on other networks. Pal views these developments as validation that Solana is no longer just a retail-focused chain but a serious contender for institutional capital.
What a 100x Return Would Look Like
For Solana to achieve a 100x return from its current price of approximately $180 (as of March 27, 2025), the token would need to reach roughly $18,000 per SOL — a market capitalization of over $8 trillion. Pal acknowledges that such a return is unlikely from the spot price alone. Instead, he suggests that the asymmetric upside lies in early-stage projects building on Solana, particularly in the RWA and decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN) sectors.
“You’re not going to 100x on SOL itself at this stage. But the protocols being built on top of it? That’s where the venture-style returns are,” Pal explained. He pointed to projects like Helium (which migrated to Solana in 2023) and Render Network as examples of tokens that could benefit disproportionately from Solana’s ecosystem growth.
Implications for Retail Investors
Pal’s prediction carries weight among retail investors who follow his macro-focused investment style. However, he has also cautioned that the timeline for such returns is uncertain and that the RWA tokenization trend may take several years to mature. Regulatory clarity from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) remains a key variable. In March 2025, the SEC’s newly formed Crypto Task Force signaled a more open stance toward tokenized securities, which Pal cited as a potential catalyst.
For readers considering Pal’s thesis, the key takeaway is not a specific price target but a directional bet: that the next wave of crypto adoption will come from bridging traditional finance to public blockchains, and that Solana’s architecture makes it a leading candidate to host that bridge.
Disclosure: The author holds a small position in SOL at the time of writing.
