The CEO of Helius Labs, Mert Mumtaz, whose company provides infrastructure and tooling for Solana developers, stated in a post on X that Solana’s program model is fundamentally safer for AI development than the interface model used by Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-based blockchains. He also predicted the emergence of several billion-dollar startups on Solana this year. Mumtaz comments come as the intersection of AI and blockchain development gains momentum, with the global AI market projected to exceed $4.8 trillion by 2033 and blockchain expected to command a respectable share in that market. As for Mumtaz’s argument, it all goes back to Solana’s architectural approach to smart contracts. Unlike EVM networks, where developers must deploy new contracts for most applications, Solana developers can simply reuse existing infrastructure for core functions such as token creation, swapping, and transfers. “You can integrate existing pipelines, swaps, token hooks within basically a few prompts,” Mumtaz wrote, adding that this eliminates the need for repeated security audits and enables much faster development cycles. What is the distinction between Solana and Ethereum? The technical distinction lies in how the two systems handle code and data. Solana separates data and code, storing all program data in separate accounts. This allows single programs to operate through various accounts without requiring additional deployments. EVM smart contracts, on the other hand, combine code and state in single units, and this requires new contract deployments for different applications. Mumtaz also highlighted how AI is narrowing what has historically been a major barrier to Solana development. He wrote, “even if you needed to write a contract, a huge thing holding back Solana was how difficult it is to write contract code since Solidity is much easier to grok tha n nu ances of Rust on Solana since the latter is a much lower level of abstraction,” adding that the said gap has now been reduced. Solana’s developer growth The comments come at a time when Solana’s developer ecosystem is experiencing considerable growth. As of November 2025, the blockchain boasted over 17,700 developers. The platform became the number one blockchain for new developers in 2024, with over 3,200 monthly active developers in 2025. Builder interest in Solana has increased by 78% over the past two years, according to data from venture capital firm a16z’s State of Crypto 2025 report. AI can integrate with smart contracts for automated decision-making, making contracts dynamic and responsive to changing circumstances. Is Mumtaz correct about Solana being more suitable for AI? Not everyone agrees with Mumtaz’s assessment. Supporters of Cardano responded to his post, with one stating, “A blockchain that was built on foundations of peer-reviewed research, formal proofs, substantially lower hardware requirements, and runs on Haskell would be orders of magnitude better for AI.” However, there was considerable rebuttal from supporters of the Ethereum ecosystem, with William Mougayar, the author of The Business Blockchain, who calls himself an Ethereum Maxirealist, disagreeing with each point Mumtaz made. First, he stated that “AI advantages are NOT chain-specific.” He also wrote, “AI favors mature tooling, standardized primitives, security testing, and composability. These are areas where Ethereum is strongest. Faster code generation does not equal faster safe deployment.” Mouyagar also countered Mumtaz’s claim where he said that “you do not need to write a new contract for most things and especially not core functions like creating/swapping/moving tokens,” stating, “This is equally true on Ethereum in practice. Most applications integrate existing DEXs, vaults, lending markets, or AA modules without writing new primitives. Ethereum’s “money lego” architecture is the canonical example of reusable, audited composition.” If Solana’s model does prove more amenable to AI-assisted development, it could influence where developers choose to build and where venture capital flows. Mumtaz’s prediction of several nine- to ten-digit startups emerging on Solana remains to be seen, but there will be observers monitoring the development. Claim your free seat in an exclusive crypto trading community - limited to 1,000 members.
