Solana has overtaken Ethereum as the leading smart-contract blockchain by trading volume, with Solana-based DEXes witnessing a notable 67% surge in trading volume to $21.3 billion over seven days. Meanwhile, Ethereum-based DEXes saw a more modest 3% increase to $19.4 billion during the same period.
The surge in Solana's trading volume can be attributed to the speculative trading of meme coins like dogwifwhat, bonk, book of meme, and slerf. This trend has led to a flurry of new meme coin creations and a surge in stablecoin supply on the Solana network, reaching a multiyear high of $2.80 billion.
Reflexivity Research highlights that Solana's volume surge began in the fourth quarter of 2023, driven by various points programs and airdrops such as the Solana DEX Jupiter. Moreover, Solana's superior capital efficiency compared to Ethereum is evident in its higher trading volumes relative to the total value locked (TVL) in its DeFi ecosystem.
Despite Solana's impressive performance, Ethereum still maintains its position as the largest smart-contract blockchain in terms of TVL, boasting $46.44 billion compared to Solana's $3.6 billion. However, Solana's SOL token has seen significant growth, surging 68% this year to $170, outpacing Ethereum's ether, which rallied 40% to $3,214.