Grape or Watermelon? Solana’s Yakovenko Wants You to Pick Wisely

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So, Anatoly Yakovenko, the brain behind Solana, has another bright idea. This time, he’s solving the age-old crypto dilemma: how to bootstrap a network without turning it into a rent-seeker’s paradise. Spoiler alert: it involves futarchy and grapes. Or watermelons. Can’t forget the watermelons.

Solana’s co-founder, the guy you know as @toly on X (or Twitter, if you’re still living in 2023), dropped a new framework for launching crypto networks. Because, you know, the world definitely needed another one. He’s asking for feedback, which is code for “please tell me I’m a genius.”

Apparently, the big problem in DeFi is how to bootstrap a network without rewarding people who do nothing but collect rent. Yakovenko’s solution? A grape vs. watermelon analogy. Because nothing says “financial innovation” like fruit metaphors. He wants everyone to have a slice of the watermelon, not just a grape. Deep stuff.

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Futarchy: Because Voting is So Last Decade

Yakovenko’s big idea is that the best crypto networks solve for bootstrapping network effects. He calls this “hard crypto,” which sounds like something you’d do after too many energy drinks. According to him, a successful network isn’t a company with a token-it’s a bunch of contributors working together. Revolutionary, right?

He’s particularly into perpetuals and DeFi protocols, because those are the real test cases. The most valuable contributors, he says, are the ones bringing net additional shared liquidity. The problem? There’s no proof-of-work equivalent to verify this. So, governance has to step in. And we all know how well governance works in practice. Spoiler: it doesn’t.

Enter futarchy, a governance model driven by prediction markets. Because if there’s one thing crypto needs, it’s more betting. Yakovenko thinks this will fix everything. Sure, Jan.

Do you want a whole single grape or a slice of the watermelon? The perfect way to bootstrap a network should offer every participant a slice of the watermelon, so they chose to participate in network as opposed to trying to build their own thing. You must have minimal rent…

– toly (@toly) May 29, 2026

Yakovenko’s Three-Step Plan to Save Crypto

Here’s how Yakovenko’s bootstrap process works, in three easy steps:

1. Sybil check: Make sure participants are real, unique users. Because fake accounts are so 2021.

2. Minimal incentives: Keep financial incentives low during the early phase. Because Merkle mines and proof-of-work schemes turned into profit games faster than a crypto scammer can say “to the moon.”

3. Exit option: If someone games the system, the community can just fork into a new network. Because nothing says “decentralization” like the ability to bail at any time.

Oh, and AI is making all this more urgent. Because if there’s one thing crypto needs, it’s more AI-driven chaos.

Percolator Protocol: The New Kid on the Block

Yakovenko’s also hyping up Percolator, a protocol with formally verified isolation between markets. Basically, anyone can create new markets under one roof without them interfering with each other. Sounds great, until you remember this is crypto and nothing ever goes as planned.

Hint hint. Instead of all building your own thing, get a bunch of startups together that are all building perps, prediction markets, new oracles, prop amms, etc… bootstrap a Futarchy together that run common protocols. Percolator (barring any bugs) has formally verified…

– toly (@toly) May 29, 2026

He’s calling on startups through Colosseum, a Solana accelerator, to come together and bootstrap a shared futarchy. Because nothing says “collaboration” like a bunch of startups trying to outdo each other while pretending to work together.

In this model, votes have a cost but guarantee nothing. Participants can exit anytime, which Yakovenko says keeps the system honest. Or just chaotic. Tomato, tomahto.

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2026-05-30 17:13