Solana continued to thrive in December, driven by meme coins that contributed to its growing market share against Ethereum and other blockchain platforms.
As reported by DeFi Llama, Solana’s (SOL) decentralized exchange protocols were the most active in December.
The total volume surged to over $97 billion, a significant increase from the $22.6 billion recorded during the same timeframe last year.
Remarkably, this marked the third consecutive month that Solana surpassed Ethereum (ETH), which has long been a leader in the sector. Ethereum’s protocols achieved a volume exceeding $74 billion, while Base and Arbitrum managed volumes of $42 billion and $37 billion, respectively.
Solana also exhibited strong performance in November, with its DEX networks reaching a volume of $129 billion, outpacing Ethereum’s $70.6 billion. In October, Solana recorded a volume of $52 billion compared to Ethereum’s $41 billion.
A significant portion of Solana’s DEX volume stemmed from Raydium (RAY), a network that processed transactions worth $65 billion in the past 30 days. Orca contributed with $24 billion, while Lifinity, Pump, and Phoenix collectively saw volumes exceeding $5.93 billion.
The surge in Solana’s DEX volume is attributed to the thriving meme coin sector, which has performed robustly this year. Solana has welcomed a multitude of meme coins, bolstered by the emergence of Pump, the leading token generator. Currently, all Solana meme coins boast a market cap exceeding $14.1 billion, with notable tokens like Bonk, Dogwifhat, Popcat, and Peanut the Squirrel leading the charge.
This expansion has proven highly lucrative for Solana and its native applications, with all Solana-native dApps generating a record $365 million in revenue in November, a historic milestone. Additionally, TokenTerminal reported that Solana’s blockchain generated a record $725 million in fees in 2024, making it the third-most profitable chain behind Ethereum and Tron.
Developers and users are drawn to Solana due to its significantly lower fees and enhanced throughput.
Base, the layer-2 network introduced by Coinbase, has also emerged as a standout performer in 2024, with total fees climbing to over $82 million. It has established itself as the largest layer 2 network in the blockchain space, with its DEX networks managing assets exceeding $181 billion, and its total value locked skyrocketing to $2 billion.
