Solana Surpasses Ethereum In DEX Volume : A Lasting Trend Or A Fluke ?
The crypto ecosystem is going through an expansion cycle where competition among blockchains is intensifying, particularly in the decentralized exchanges (DEX) market. Indeed, long dominated by Ethereum, this sector is seeing a significant competitor emerge: Solana, whose trading volumes briefly surpassed those of Ethereum in February. This unexpected performance occurred despite an unprecedented crisis in the memecoin segment, these cryptocurrencies with speculative purposes that have long been a key economic driver of the network. Solana is holding on to its place among the DEX leaders, but the recent collapse of memecoins raises a major question: can the network maintain its position without this asset ?
Solana briefly surpasses Ethereum : a contested dominance in the DEX
In February, Solana achieved a historic performance and captured 43 % of the total trading volume on decentralized platforms (DEX). The network briefly surpassed Ethereum and its layer-two solutions. This peak marked a turning point in the competition between the two blockchains, with transaction volumes boosted by the excitement around memecoins.
This surge, however, was short-lived. By March, Solana’s volumes had dropped to 30 % of the market, leaving Ethereum with a 40 % market share. Matthew Sigel, head of research at VanEck, nevertheless emphasized in a post on the social network X (formerly Twitter) on March 5, 2025, that despite the memecoin crisis, “the volumes of Solana DEX are still holding up, roughly corresponding to the entire ETH ecosystem (L1 + L2),” which thus highlights the resilience of the network. Today, Raydium, the leading decentralized exchange platform on Solana, maintains a TVL (Total Value Locked) of $1.3 billion, a strong signal of user trust in its ecosystem.
The collapse of memecoins and its repercussions on the Solana ecosystem
The surge in volumes on Solana was largely driven by speculation on memecoins, a phenomenon that suddenly reversed in February. Several scandals shook investors’ confidence, starting with Libra, a memecoin falsely associated with Argentine President Javier Milei, which lost $4.4 billion in a matter of hours. Another major incident concerns TRUMP, the cryptocurrency unofficially linked to Donald Trump, which caused $2 billion in losses across 800,000 wallets.
The Pump.fun platform, used for launching new memecoins on Solana, has seen its activity plummet by 80% since January. VanEck recalls that this market represented 80 % of Solana’s network revenue, which fueled the liquidity of its ecosystem before these tokens migrated to Raydium. The sudden drop in this momentum led to a sharp decline in stablecoin transfers, a backbone of on-chain transactions, with an 80 % decrease compared to January.
Despite this crisis, Solana retains solid fundamentals. Since the beginning of the year, its token has risen by 191 %, its on-chain (excluding MEV) revenues have surged by 700 %, and the supply of stablecoins on its network has jumped by 291 %. These figures reflect a positive momentum, but dependence on memecoins remains a strategic challenge. The future of Solana will depend on its ability to diversify its revenue sources and attract more institutional adoption on its DEX. Moreover, competition with Ethereum remains fierce, but Solana’s blockchain has proven it can compete with the market leader, even during major turbulence. It remains to be seen whether it can sustainably rebound without relying on the speculative frenzy of memecoins.
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