Blockworks after Messari: Solana analytics, dual APIs, and Lightspeed IR

If you only know Blockworks from Lightspeed or the Digital Asset Summit, the 2026 product map is easy to misread. The company still runs research, podcasts, and events, but the commercial center of gravity is data + software for onchain capital markets: analytics, investor relations, and APIs that funds, issuers, and agents can wire into workflows.

The structural change: on 12 June 2026 Blockworks acquired Messari. That is why the Blockworks site footer API Docs link opens docs.messari.io/introduction. It is intentional, not a broken link. The product page Blockworks API + MCP says it plainly: the Messari API is now available with Blockworks data.

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Company snapshot

Blockworks (Blockworks Inc., NYC) was founded by Jason Yanowitz and Michael Ippolito to attack the crypto information problem. The public mission is to build trust in onchain markets: connect issuers that need to disclose and raise with underwriters that need comparable data.

In April 2026 they closed a Series A extension at a $192M valuation with an explicit thesis to consolidate fragmented crypto data. Messari was the first large step on that roadmap. Messari's X brand now reads Messari by Blockworks.

Strategic arc in one line: media and conferences → Research subscription → public analytics → Lightspeed IR → roll-up capital → Messari acquisition → API + agent surface for the combined stack.

Research clip: Sam Schubert on Jupiter and cycle timing

Before the API surface, a useful window into how Blockworks Research actually thinks about Solana product markets: Research Analyst Sam Schubert (@minnus; Australia-based, previously equity research at Citi) on Jupiter Onchain. Title: Crypto's biggest cycle hasn't even started yet, with Sam Schubert. He walks macro indicators that argue "still early," then digs into why Jupiter's distribution across spot, perps, and prediction markets compounds onchain.

Treat the macro framing as research opinion, not a trading signal. The builder takeaway is the second half: Blockworks analysts spend real time on Solana execution venues, aggregator share, and where distribution (not just TVL screenshots) wins. That same research muscle feeds the dashboards and metrics APIs below.

Solana analytics: REV and the public hub

Blockworks publishes a deep Solana analytics hub: financials, onchain activity, app activity, SOL supply/staking, trading, SOL digital asset treasuries (DATs), SOL ETFs, tokens, stablecoins, tokenized commodities and equities, BTC on Solana, launchpads, traders, perp DEXs, spot DEXs, PropAMMs, DEX aggregators, trading platforms, lending, and competitive landscape tabs.

Their methodology note: Solana series come from a mix of indexers (Dune, Goldsky), RPC endpoints, and Blockworks modeling, with multi-source validation.

Network REV (Real Economic Value) is the flagship comparable. REV is what users pay to transact: in-protocol fees (vote, base, priority) plus out-of-protocol tips (Jito tips). It is gross revenue before operator costs such as validator commissions. Token Holder Net Income is the slice of REV that reaches token holders after operator payments. For protocol PMs and investors comparing Solana to other L1s, REV is the vocabulary Blockworks wants everyone to share.

Dual API stack (do not collapse these)

Post-acquisition there are still two live developer stacks. Builders who only read Research docs will miss the main product API, and vice versa.

1. Primary: Messari / Blockworks product API

Canonical docs: docs.messari.io/introduction. Marketing: blockworks.com/products/api-mcp. Host: api.messari.io. Auth header: x-messari-api-key.

Endpoint families include Asset & Market Data, Exchanges, News and Topics, Research, Stablecoins, Networks (25+ L1/L2 including Solana), Protocols (200+), Token Unlocks, Fundraising, AI, Signals, Intel/Monitoring, and Watchlists. Coverage claims on the product page: 40K+ assets, 210+ exchanges. Free tier FAQ quotes about 20 requests/minute; enterprise limits are custom.

curl -s "https://api.messari.io/metrics/v2/assets/details?assetIDs=solana" \
  -H "x-messari-api-key: $MESSARI_API_KEY"

Agent path: hosted MCP at https://mcp.messari.io/mcp (documented under Messari MCP server docs). Spreadsheet path: Excel and Google Sheets plug-ins that authenticate with the same key class. This is the surface for product teams and agents that need market data, unlocks, fundraising, news, and network/protocol metrics in one account.

2. Secondary: Blockworks Research Data API

Docs: docs.blockworksresearch.com. Base: https://api.blockworks.com/v1/.... Auth: x-api-key from a Blockworks Research account. This is the warehouse behind Research dashboards: curated time series, chart dataset exports (~1,500+ charts), and project slugs such as solana across roughly 305 projects.

curl -H "x-api-key: $BLOCKWORKS_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.blockworks.com/v1/metrics/rev-usd?project=solana"

Use this when you need to reproduce Blockworks Research economics charts (REV, fee splits, DEX volumes as modeled by their research team), not when you need the broad Messari asset/intel surface.

Lightspeed IR (Solana Foundation partnership)

In December 2025 Blockworks launched Lightspeed IR with the Solana Foundation: an institutional investor-relations platform for professional allocators and Solana ecosystem stakeholders. Positioning is onchain-native IR (curated analytics, branded investor portals, advisory), not a clone of legacy IR SaaS. Follow-up discussion sits on the Lightspeed podcast feed ("Investor Relations in the Onchain Era").

For protocol and foundation teams this is the GTM surface. For app engineers it is context: Blockworks is building the disclosure and diligence layer that institutional Solana capital expects, fed by the same data culture as Research and the APIs.

When to use Blockworks/Messari vs Solana runtime data

Honest split for Solana builders:

• Use Blockworks / Messari for comparable chain and protocol economics, asset profiles, unlocks, fundraising, research feeds, agent-readable market intel, and executive dashboards.
• Use Helius, Yellowstone gRPC, DAS, Bitquery, etc. for transaction streams, account subscriptions, wallet history, program logs, and product runtime.
• Use DefiLlama / Token Terminal / Dune when you need open self-serve SQL or different TVL/revenue methodologies; Blockworks is opinionated and methodology-owned, not a raw warehouse free-for-all.

Messari is no longer a competitor in that matrix. It is inside the house. Token Terminal, DefiLlama, Artemis, and Solana-native indexers remain the relevant alternatives depending on the job.

Directory placement on devrels.xyz

Both orgs are listed under category Data, with resources for the primary API docs, MCP, Solana analytics, Research platform, and Research Data API. Lightspeed podcast and newsletter were already in channels. Company X: @Blockworks; Research: @blockworksres.

Resources

• blockworks.com — main site
• docs.messari.io/introduction — primary API documentation
• Blockworks API + MCP product page
• docs.blockworksresearch.com — Research Data API
• Solana analytics dashboard
• Blockworks Research
• Acquisition note (Jun 2026)
• Lightspeed podcast
• Sam Schubert on Jupiter Onchain (YouTube)
• Sam Schubert author page · @minnus

Bottom line: for Solana teams, Blockworks is the capital-markets data layer with a real API story after Messari, deep public Solana analytics, and institutional IR. Point your agents at docs.messari.io; keep Research metrics API for Blockworks-native economics series; keep runtime data on a Solana indexer.