While Ethereum maximalists grapple with their new reality, Solana’s DEX ecosystem has left its rival in the dust. The numbers don’t lie – Solana-based DEXs crushed it with $60 million in trading volume this February, nearly doubling Ethereum’s measly $34 million. And this isn’t just a one-hit wonder. Solana has been the DEX volume king since October 2024, showing no signs of slowing down.
January was particularly brutal for Ethereum supporters. Solana DEXs raked in a whopping $258 billion in volume, making Ethereum’s $86 billion look like pocket change. The 24-hour snapshot on January 6 told the same story: Solana $3.8 billion, Ethereum $1.7 billion. Ouch. The recent flip of BNB has positioned Solana within striking distance of USDT’s third-place market cap ranking.
The secret sauce? It’s pretty simple. Solana’s transaction fees are laughably low compared to Ethereum’s, and its throughput makes Ethereum look like it’s running on dial-up internet. Add in some user-friendly DEX platforms like Raydium and Meteora, plus a dash of meme coin mania, and you’ve got a recipe for success. Smart contracts automate these transactions without any intermediaries, making the process seamless for users.
The revenue numbers are just as impressive. Solana pulled in $25 million in February, while Ethereum managed $16 million. Q4 2024 was a particular showstopper, with Solana’s revenues exploding from $268 million to $840 million. Raydium, Solana’s top DEX, flexed hard with a 236% weekly change and $52 billion in volume.
Sure, Ethereum still leads in total value locked with $57.592 billion, but Solana’s $9.398 billion TVL isn’t exactly chump change. With Solana’s price sitting at $202.71 and its “proof of history” protocol enabling a mind-boggling 65,000 TPS without second layers, some analysts are wondering if the student might become the master.
The SOL-ETH ratio peaked at 0.09 in January before settling at 0.075. Not bad for a network that some critics once dismissed as just another Ethereum killer. Four months of dominance later, those critics are awfully quiet.
