Here's a reality check on valuations that might reshape how you think about crypto adoption. Back in 2006, AMD commanded a ~$25B market cap at $42 per share. Fast forward—Solana just hit $120 with a ~$69B valuation. That's nearly 3x AMD's valuation from nearly two decades ago. Now here's the kicker: AMD itself went through the grinder. In 2015, the chip giant bottomed out at $2 (a mere ~$2B MC), almost falling into irrelevance. But steady innovation got them to $200 by 2025, swelling to ~$300B. So what does this tell us? A layer-1 blockchain touching $69B in market cap isn't unprecedented when you stack it against legacy tech cycles. AMD took years grinding through R&D before exploding. Solana's trajectory? Still writing its own story. Whether crypto becomes the next AMD or fades remains the question—but the market cap comparison alone shows we're no longer in the realm of pure speculation.