Beyond the Noise: Mert Mumtaz on Solana, Zcash and the Framework Behind Real Conviction

In this episode of When Shift Happens, I sit down with Mert Mumtaz, co-founder and CEO of Helius, to discuss why he believes Solana and Zcash remain deeply misunderstood, what separates lasting blockchain ecosystems from temporary narratives, and why artificial intelligence will force crypto to adopt a higher standard of security. We also explore the responsibility of building critical infrastructure and why NEAR may be one of the market’s dark horses in 2026.

Building Conviction When Everyone Else Is Watching Price

Mert is not observing crypto from the sidelines. Through Helius, he works directly with developers, startups, and infrastructure across Solana. That gives him access to signals traders often miss, like developer activity, new company formation, product launches, and the problems teams are solving.

His conviction in Solana strengthened after its collapse to around $8 following the FTX crisis. Back then, most of the market interpreted the price as proof that the network was finished, but Mert saw builders continuing to work. He describes crypto Twitter as a “high school cafeteria,” where opinions spread through imitation and price becomes the main measure of whether a project is alive.

That creates a gap between perception and reality. Traders may identify a wave early, he says, but “the people who are actually deep down in the ecosystem are the ones who can get enough conviction at $8.” Real conviction comes from finding information the crowd is not measuring and understanding why it matters.

The Two Questions Behind Mert’s Framework

Mert evaluates networks through two fundamentals: physics and incentives.

“Physics” refers to whether the technology can realistically do what it promises, such as confronting limits involving speed, capacity, coordination, and security. Next, “Incentives” asks whether participants benefit when the wider ecosystem succeeds. 

For instance, Solana has a mutually reinforcing structure in contrast to fragmented environments. An infrastructure provider, wallet, exchange, or foundation may all support a promising application because its success creates more activity and opportunity for everyone.

When those two conditions are present, the remaining challenges become what Mert calls “soluble problems”, which are issues that capable entrepreneurs can address through stronger products and execution. This is why he imagines Solana as a “global Silicon Valley”, where someone can build an internet-native business regardless of geography, background, or access to traditional institutions.

Why Solana’s Future Depends on Builders

Solana is difficult to reduce to one slogan because it is a general-purpose chain. Zcash can be described as private money, while Bitcoin is commonly framed as digital gold. Solana can support payments, trading, tokenised assets, collectibles and applications that may not yet exist.

Mert believes it can become the base economy for internet-native capital markets. If price discovery, stablecoin settlement and tokenised assets increasingly move on-chain, access to scarce block space becomes valuable. SOL would then help participants compete for resources, execute transactions and gain exposure to the network’s growth. He compares this to owning property in a developing economy before demand becomes obvious. The asset becomes more valuable as people, businesses and capital enter the system.

However, success is not automatic. Solana must keep improving speed, reliability, liquidity and the tools available to founders. The bet is ultimately on execution across a global network of teams. Most startups may fail, but a handful of breakout successes can reshape the ecosystem.

The Zcash Scare and Crypto’s Security Reset

The conversation then turns to the recent Zcash security controversy, and Mert argues that the event was misunderstood. A vulnerability was identified through an expanded security effort, patched before public disclosure and followed by confusion when some block explorers had not updated their nodes. The network itself, he says, remained operational.

The larger issue is what happens as AI becomes better at finding software vulnerabilities. Crypto can no longer be built with the same tolerance for error as ordinary consumer applications. Mert distinguishes between Facebook-level software and spaceflight-level software. A bug in a social platform can often be patched after release. A bug in a spacecraft, pacemaker, or financial protocol holding billions of dollars may have irreversible consequences.

“With AI, that just won’t cut it anymore,” he says.

His answer is formal verification: mathematically proving that software behaves according to its specification. He believes Zcash’s effort to verify its systems makes the network more resilient. The broader lesson is counterintuitive: discovering a weakness can strengthen a system when the response produces deeper, verifiable protection.

Privacy as Essential Infrastructure

Mert’s Zcash conviction also rests on a simple question: why should digital money reveal its entire history and its owner’s financial position by default? For him, privacy is connected to fungibility, personal sovereignty and practical financial safety. Zcash gives users the option to transact privately, but its adoption depends not only on technology, but on whether wallets, exchanges, miners and payment providers can make that technology easy to use.

This is where storytelling meets execution. A technically strong system can remain overlooked when people neither understand the problem it solves nor have a simple way to access it. Mert’s investment thesis, therefore, is not merely that Zcash is undervalued. It is that privacy will eventually become a fundamental expectation for digital money.

Why NEAR Is the Dark Horse

Mert is more cautious about NEAR, but sees familiar ingredients: strong technical leadership, scalable architecture, relevance to AI and an effective operating team. He highlights founder Iliya Polosukhin’s technical pedigree and early understanding of AI’s direction.

NEAR still needs to attract more builders and turn its capabilities into widely used businesses, but Mert already sees asymmetric potential because its fundamentals and operational quality are stronger than its current market position suggests.

One of his most revealing observations comes from working directly with the team. Beyond the technology, he pays attention to whether teams communicate clearly, meet deliverables, and operate with discipline. Sometimes, he suggests, the strongest signal is how effectively people work when nobody else is watching.

That point captures the philosophy behind the entire conversation. Mert is not searching for whatever is currently popular. He is looking for systems with sound physics, aligned incentives, and teams capable of executing before the broader market recognises their value.

👉If you enjoyed reading the summary, head over to When Shift Happens on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform to access the full convo. 

https://youtu.be/maDCaWirDj8?si=S4qFrQncSrcAQbGI