Mert Mumtaz is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Helius, a developer infrastructure company for the Solana blockchain. He is a prominent figure in the cryptocurrency community, known for his technical commentary, vocal advocacy for the Solana ecosystem, and active presence on social media. ^{[1] [2]}

Early Life

Mumtaz was born in Istanbul, Turkey. His family relocated to Niagara Falls, Canada, during his childhood, a move prompted by his father's concerns over the political climate in Turkey. Growing up, he was heavily involved in combat sports, including wrestling, rugby, and kickboxing, and initially planned to attend Queen's University on a sports scholarship. He later shifted his focus to academics after what he described as a realization about the value of knowledge, which he humorously attributed to playing the video game Skyrim. ^[2]

Education

Mumtaz attended Stamford Collegiate high school in Niagara Falls. He pursued an engineering degree in university and was accepted into a selective applied mathematics program, where he met his future Helius co-founders. He also completed a year-long internship at BlackBerry during his studies. Later, he earned a Master's Degree in Computer Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology. ^{[2] [3] [13]}

Career

Mumtaz began his career holding various roles at technology company BlackBerry and stock media company Shutterstock. ^{[4] [5]} He later worked in traditional finance for three of Canada's five largest banks, focusing on cybersecurity, trading infrastructure, and digital payments. Subsequently, he joined Clearbanc, a company founded by Michele Romanow, as an engineer building payment systems. It was during this time in early 2021 that he began to focus on the potential of cryptocurrency to address inefficiencies in cross-border payments. ^[2]

In April 2021, Mumtaz joined Coinbase as a software engineer on the platform team, approximately one week before the company's public listing. While at Coinbase, he researched various blockchains and developed a strong interest in Solana, building several non-fungible token (NFT) bots for its ecosystem in his spare time. In June 2022, he left Coinbase to co-found [Helius](https://iq.wiki/wiki/helius) with Liam Vovk and Nick Pennie, whom he had met during his university mathematics program. ^[2]

Helius

Helius is a developer infrastructure and tooling firm created to support developers building on the Solana blockchain. The company provides services such as Remote Procedure Calls (RPCs), webhooks, and APIs, aiming to simplify the development process on the network. ^[1] The company was founded by Mumtaz, Liam Vovk (formerly of TikTok), and Nick Pennie (formerly of AWS), who serve as equal partners. ^[2]

In 2024, Helius announced it had raised a $9.5 million Series A funding round led by Foundation Capital. Notable participants in the round included Solana co-founders Anatoly Yakovenko and Raj Gokal. The funding was intended to expand the company's engineering team and enhance its infrastructure offerings. ^{[1] [6]}

Role in the Solana Ecosystem

Mumtaz is recognized as a significant and vocal advocate for the Solana ecosystem. He gained prominence following the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX in late 2022, a period during which he actively worked to restore confidence in the network. He is known for his active presence on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), where he uses his technical background to address what he considers to be misinformation about Solana's engineering and performance. ^[2]

Despite his advocacy, Mumtaz is also a vocal critic of the ecosystem, aiming to drive improvements from within. He has publicly criticized the promotion of what he deems misleading metrics, such as inflated active user counts that are primarily driven by bots. He has also highlighted technical shortcomings, such as issues with Solana's Application Binary Interface (ABI), which he noted is handled better in the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) ecosystem. ^[2]

In February 2025, Mumtaz publicly defended Solana against criticism that labeled it a "meme coin casino" following several high-profile scams. He argued that the actions of a few malicious actors should not define an entire ecosystem that hosts thousands of legitimate developers. He drew a parallel to the 2017 Initial Coin Offering (ICO) boom on Ethereum, where a high percentage of projects were also identified as fraudulent, to argue that such challenges are not unique to Solana. ^[7]

Public Stances and Proposals

Mumtaz frequently shares his views on the broader implications of cryptocurrency and proposes new ideas for the Solana ecosystem.

"Capitalism 2.0" Thesis

Mumtaz has argued that cryptocurrency should be understood as "Capitalism 2.0" rather than "Web 3.0." He posits that the "Web 3.0" label diminishes the technology's significance, which he believes is a fundamental evolution of the capitalist system. According to his thesis, crypto enhances core components of capitalism, such as immutable property rights, transparent information flow, and frictionless capital movement. ^[8]

Solana-Aligned Stablecoin

In September 2025, Mumtaz proposed the creation of a Solana-aligned stablecoin to address what he termed "yield leakage." He argued that a major stablecoin on the network captures yield from its reserves and uses it to fund a competing ecosystem. His proposal suggested that a new stablecoin could redirect the yield from its reserves back into the Solana ecosystem, potentially through SOL token buybacks or burns. He later refined the idea, suggesting it could be implemented by competing Digital-Asset Treasury companies (DATs). ^[9]

Skepticism on Tokenization

Mumtaz has expressed skepticism about the necessity of tokenizing all forms of crypto infrastructure. In a public discussion with Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko in September 2025, he questioned the utility of a crypto wallet having its own token. While Yakovenko argued that any project with revenue should have a token to return profits to holders, Mumtaz suggested that such a move could risk altering the fundamental purpose of the infrastructure. ^[9]

Angel Investing

Mumtaz is an active angel investor in the technology and financial services sectors, with a focus on Web3, crypto infrastructure, and software development applications. His portfolio includes investments in over 20 companies, such as Monad, Berachain, Eclipse, and Zeta Markets. He has co-invested alongside firms like Robot Ventures and Electric Capital, as well as individuals including Anatoly Yakovenko. ^{[10] [3]}

Controversies

In January 2025, Miles Smith, a former Lead Infrastructure Engineer at Helius who left the company in 2023, published a series of allegations against Mumtaz on the social media platform X. Smith accused Mumtaz of creating a toxic work environment, including an instance of verbal abuse toward a vendor. He also alleged that Helius misrepresented its technical uptime by using services from a competitor, QuickNode, to mask internal performance issues. Further allegations included the improper acquisition of a hackathon project named "Xray" and that Mumtaz actively sabotaged Smith's subsequent fundraising efforts. ^[6]

Mumtaz publicly denied all the claims, stating, "nothing like this even remotely happened." He characterized Smith as a "disgruntled employee" whom he had terminated and who had been "harassing" him for several years. Mumtaz suggested the allegations were fabricated to gain attention for Smith's own business ventures. ^[6]

Interviews

When Shift Happens #01

On November 28, 2024, Mert Mumtaz participated in an interview on the YouTube program When Shift Happens (Episode 98), titled Mert Mumtaz: How Solana Hits $1,000 (And Makes You Rich). In this conversation, he discussed his perspective on the development of the Solana blockchain, the activities of Helius Labs, and aspects of his personal background.

Mumtaz described Solana as a platform that could serve as a global computing system, enabling individuals to create applications that are tested directly by market dynamics. He explained that Helius Labs, supported by investment from Founders Fund, provides infrastructure intended to simplify and accelerate development within the Solana ecosystem.

Addressing the events following the collapse of FTX in 2022, Mumtaz stated that the episode ultimately had a constructive effect on Solana by eliminating harmful influences and reinforcing a focus on technical progress. He expressed the view that Solana could capture large-scale opportunities in global finance and technology and suggested that its token could eventually reach a value above $1,000.

In addition to technical and market considerations, the discussion included his attention to misinformation in the digital asset industry and his belief in prioritizing direct action over extensive debate. Mumtaz also referred to formative personal experiences, including the loss of his mother at an early age, which shaped his outlook on resilience and discipline. He emphasized the importance of maintaining momentum and avoiding complacency in competitive technological fields. ^[14]

Mert Mumtaz on Solana, Company Culture and Risk Taking #02

On April 29, 2025, The Y-Axis Podcast featured Mert Mumtaz, co-founder and CEO of Helius, in a discussion centered on entrepreneurship, organizational culture, and the Solana blockchain. During the interview, Mumtaz described his career trajectory, including his time at Coinbase and his decision to establish Helius, a developer platform within the Solana ecosystem.

According to Mumtaz, entrepreneurship requires both risk tolerance and the establishment of a clear cultural framework. He stated that Helius approaches recruitment by valuing motivation and alignment with the company’s goals, rather than focusing exclusively on formal qualifications. He also noted that in a remote-first context, written communication plays a central role in maintaining coordination, transparency, and efficiency among team members.

From a technical perspective, Mumtaz explained his position on Solana’s architecture, emphasizing its design philosophy of leveraging hardware capacity to achieve higher levels of scalability. He contrasted this with alternative blockchain models that, in his view, place heavier reliance on software abstractions. He also addressed incentive structures within the crypto industry, arguing that the dominance of short-term financial interests creates challenges for sustainable development and long-term innovation.

The conversation additionally covered the integration of artificial intelligence into professional workflows. Mumtaz described AI as useful for tasks such as coding support and ideation, while maintaining reservations about its capacity to produce authentic written communication. His remarks provided an account of his perspectives on startup building, workplace practices, blockchain design, and economic dynamics in the cryptocurrency sector. ^[15]