Solana vs Ethereum – A Comparative Analysis of Staking Dominance in 2025

As the blockchain landscape evolves, the competition between Solana and Ethereum in the staking arena has intensified. By 2025, both platforms have demonstrated unique strengths and challenges in attracting validators and delegators. Ethereum, with its established ecosystem and transition to Proof-of-Stake (PoS), continues to command a significant share of staked assets. Meanwhile, Solana’s high throughput and low transaction costs have positioned it as a formidable contender, especially among retail stakers. Key metrics such as Total Value Locked (TVL), annualized yield, and network participation rates highlight the diverging strategies of these two giants. This analysis delves into the technical, economic, and community-driven factors shaping the staking race, offering insights into which platform may emerge as the preferred choice for stakeholders in the current market cycle.

Solana flipped Ethereum in staking market cap

Solana now leads the staking race with a market cap of $53.96 billion, narrowly edging past Ethereum’s $53.77 billion. This flip is a sign of Solana’s growing user base, rising validator confidence, and superior staking participation rate of 64.86%, This, compared to Ethereum’s 28.16%.

Source: X

The combination of higher reward rates and faster throughput is clearly resonating with stakers.

While Ethereum still dominates in developer activity and institutional presence, Solana’s uptick means that retail and DeFi ecosystems are voting with their tokens. And, they’re staking them on Solana.

Solana as Circle’s new growth engine

Solana’s lead in staking isn’t just a numbers game. It’s showing up in real-world usage too.

Its growing role in Circle’s USDC ecosystem highlights that both value and user activity are increasingly shifting to the Solana network.

Source: X

Solana is quickly becoming Circle’s second-largest minting hub after Ethereum, reflecting a broader shift in user activity and asset allocation. Solana’s stablecoin supply surged in late January and it has since stabilized at over $10 billion – Far ahead of rival chains like Base, Arbitrum, and Avalanche.

Users are moving where speed, cost, and liquidity align. And where users go, stablecoin issuance follows.

Solana’s price outlook

Solana was trading at $139.80 at press time, up 1.41% on the day as bullish momentum held firm.

The MACD remained in positive territory, though the gap between the MACD and Signal line has been narrowing – A potential sign of cooling momentum. Meanwhile, the RSI sat at 58.45 and hinted at room for further upside.

Source: TradingView

Price action highlighted consistent higher lows since early April, indicating a strong short-term trend.

If bulls can push past $145, SOL could retest the March highs NEAR $150. However, if the momentum fades, a pullback towards $130 support zone might be likely.