Solana Foundation hires former Binance CMO Conlan as strategy chief and Polygon exec Raees for payments
Rachel Conlan left Binance to become Solana Foundation chief strategy officer, and Polygon Labs' Jamal Raees joined as general manager of payments.
Why it matters
The foundation is putting two executives with exchange and payments experience in charge of the two areas where it has spent 2026 building partnerships, and the reported stablecoin, real-world asset and tokenized equity totals come from the foundation rather than independent measurement. It is a staffing announcement with no accompanying product launch, funding round or on-chain commitment attached to it.
Key facts
The Solana Foundation appointed Rachel Conlan as chief strategy officer to lead institutional partnerships, ecosystem growth and go-to-market work.
Reported by CoinDesk
Conlan spent three years at Binance and most recently served as its global chief marketing officer before leaving the exchange in June.
Reported by CoinDesk
Before Binance, Conlan held senior roles at OKX, the sports agency CAA Sports and the advertising group Havas.
Reported by Cointelegraph
The Solana Foundation hired Jamal Raees as general manager for payments, joining from Polygon Labs.
Reported by CoinDesk
Raees previously worked at stablecoin infrastructure firm Bridge, now part of Stripe, and at payments firm Wyre.
Reported by CoinDesk
Raees said in a statement provided by the Solana Foundation that his focus will be driving greater adoption and usage of stablecoins and tokenized deposits with an emphasis on global markets.
Reported by Cointelegraph
Cointelegraph reports the hires follow the March launch of the Solana Developer Platform, which includes Modern Treasury as a payments infrastructure partner, with Mastercard and Western Union named as early users.
Reported by Cointelegraph
What happened
The Solana Foundation appointed Rachel Conlan as chief strategy officer, saying she will lead institutional partnerships, ecosystem growth and efforts to bring more companies onto Solana. Conlan spent three years at Binance, most recently as global chief marketing officer, before leaving the exchange in June, and held earlier senior roles at OKX, CAA Sports and Havas. Blockchain.News reported that under Conlan Binance's user base grew from 150 million to more than 317 million during her tenure, a figure the other outlets do not mention. The foundation also hired Jamal Raees as general manager of payments, joining from Polygon Labs after earlier roles at Bridge, now part of Stripe, and Wyre; Raees said in a foundation statement that his focus will be driving adoption and usage of stablecoins and tokenized deposits with an emphasis on global markets. Decrypt, Cointelegraph and Crypto.News all cite the foundation's claim that Solana processed more than $5 trillion in stablecoin volume so far in 2026, that real-world assets on the network passed $4.5 billion, and that tokenized equity supply crossed $620 million, figures the foundation uses to support President Lily Liu's 'Token Supercycle' thesis. Cointelegraph reports the hires follow the March launch of the Solana Developer Platform, which includes Modern Treasury as a payments infrastructure partner, with Mastercard and Western Union named as early users, and that Amazon Web Services added Solana to the networks supported by its x402 feature for charging AI agents in USDC. Decrypt separately notes that the third of four planned block-time reductions took effect the week before the announcements. No outlet reports a start date, compensation package or individual targets for either executive, and the reasoning behind Conlan and Raees leaving their previous roles is not addressed beyond Conlan's departure from Binance in June.
How the story developed
- First report
First report by CoinDesk
Solana Foundation hires Binance, Polygon veterans as it ramps up tokenized finance push
- Independent corroboration
Independently corroborated by Cointelegraph
Solana Foundation hires ex-Binance CMO and payments exec as new partnerships expand
- Official statement
Solana Foundation announces the Conlan and Raees appointments
The foundation said Rachel Conlan becomes chief strategy officer and Jamal Raees becomes general manager of payments, with Raees quoted in a statement provided by the foundation.
- Update
Solana Developer Platform launch and early users
Cointelegraph reports the appointments follow the March launch of the Solana Developer Platform, with Modern Treasury as a payments infrastructure partner and Mastercard and Western Union as early users.
- Update
AWS adds Solana to x402-supported networks
Cointelegraph reports Amazon Web Services included Solana among the networks supported by its x402 feature, which lets website owners charge AI agents in USDC for access to content.
- Update
Third of four planned block-time reductions takes effect
Decrypt reports Solana's third of four planned block-time reductions took effect the week before the appointments.
- Update
Latest outlet coverage of the appointments
NewsBTC published the latest report in the set, adding the foundation's statement that the hires are aimed at accelerating institutional adoption and payment activity on Solana.
How coverage built up
Independent sources over time, counted the way the consensus panel counts them: a republication of a wire story does not move the line.
- 24 Sept 2026, 13:00 UTC: CoinDesk — 1 independent source, 1 reports
- 24 Sept 2026, 13:00 UTC: Cointelegraph — 2 independent sources, 2 reports
- 24 Sept 2026, 13:03 UTC: Decrypt — 3 independent sources, 3 reports
- 24 Sept 2026, 14:59 UTC: Crypto.News — 4 independent sources, 4 reports
- 24 Sept 2026, 17:45 UTC: Blockchain.News — 5 independent sources, 5 reports
- 26 Sept 2026, 01:30 UTC: NewsBTC — 6 independent sources, 6 reports
Affected entities
Also mentioned: Mastercard, Ethereum, BlackRock, USD Coin, Circle, Base, Bybit
Original sources
| Publisher | Report | Role | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| CoinDesk Crypto media | Solana Foundation hires Binance, Polygon veterans as it ramps up tokenized finance push | Original | |
| Cointelegraph Crypto media | Solana Foundation hires ex-Binance CMO and payments exec as new partnerships expand | Independent | |
| Decrypt Crypto media | Solana Foundation Hires Binance's Former Global CMO for Institutional Push | Independent | |
| Crypto.News Crypto media | Solana Foundation hires Binance, Polygon veterans for institutional push | Independent | |
| NewsBTC Crypto media | Solana Foundation Hires Former Binance CMO For Institutional Push | Independent | |
| Blockchain.News Crypto media | Solana (SOL) Foundation Adds Ex-Binance CMO, Polygon Exec to Leadership | Syndicated |
Related events
MATIC sits at $0.38 with Binance volume near $1 million and every longer average above price
Blockchain.News reports MATIC pinned at $0.38 on Binance with about $1.07 million in 24-hour spot volume and every medium- and long-term average above price.
MATIC Stays at $0.38 as Binance Volume Sits Near $1 Million and $0.31 Is Cited
Blockchain.News reports MATIC pinned at $0.38 on roughly $1 million of Binance spot volume, with $0.31 cited and the 200-day average at $0.69.
Binance Coin trades near $785 as BlockDAG opens a $0.03 USDT buyback
Bitcoin Insider reports Binance Coin near $785 on September 23, Binance's $100M purchase of 1.24M Circle shares, and a five-day, $0.03 USDT buyback for BDAG holders.
Polygon Labs completes Coinme acquisition, gains regulated payments coverage across 48 US states
Polygon Labs finalized its Coinme acquisition, securing 37 money transmitter licenses and 11 exemptions for regulated stablecoin payments across 48 US states.
Polygon Labs adds TRON to Open Money Stack for USDT payments and payouts
Polygon Labs said Open Money Stack now supports TRON, letting businesses take USDT deposits on TRON, route it to EVM networks and pay out to banks, cards or cash.
