Solana News: Crossroads Conference Returns to Istanbul Amid Blockchain’s Fifth Anniversary Celebrations

Solana, one of the leading blockchain platforms, is gearing up for a significant milestone and a major conference. Read on to find out more about Solana’s upcoming events and developments.

Solana Crossroads Conference Returns to Istanbul in April 2025

Solana Crossroads, the largest community-organized Solana conference for the ecosystem, will return to Istanbul from April 25-26, 2025. Following last year’s successful gathering of 2,500 participants, Crossroads aims to connect leading ecosystem projects, investors, and Web3 thought leaders. This event coincides with Solana’s fifth anniversary in March 2025, marking significant growth for the blockchain. In November 2024, Solana’s decentralized exchange (DEX) volume reached $129 billion, exceeding Ethereum’s all-time high of $117 billion in May 2021. Solana’s mainstream recognition has also expanded.

Pump.fun’s SOL Transfers to Kraken Continue as Revenue Drops 95%

Pump.fun’s daily fee revenue dropped significantly from around 12,000 SOL, or $2 million per day, in February 2025 to less than 1,000 SOL, or $100,000 per day, in March 2025. Recently, Pump.fun transferred 196,370 SOL to Kraken, consisting of two main transactions. This SOL transfer is only a small portion of the fee income from the past three weeks. Additionally, Pump.fun redeemed 120,000 SOL as pledged SOL. As of January 2025, Pump.fun had transferred 1.56 million SOL to Kraken, valued between $281 million and $313 million.

Sol Strategies Acquires Three Solana Validators

Sol Strategies, a Canadian publicly traded company focused on investing in and supporting the Solana blockchain ecosystem, has significantly expanded its presence in the staking industry with its latest validator acquisition. On March 17, 2025, SOL Strategies completed the acquisition of three key Solana validators, including Laine and the validator analytics platform Stakewiz.com. With the acquisition, Sol Strategies has successfully integrated Laine’s validator network, a well-respected staking service known for its reliability and performance. The total staked SOL has surged 102% to 3.35M, enhancing transparency in institutional staking on Solana.

Solana ETF Approval Odds Jump to 87% After CME SOL Futures Debut

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) debuted Solana [SOL] Futures trading on March 17th, which analysts viewed as a positive step towards the approval of a SOL ETF. The exchange offers two SOL Futures products: a standard futures contract representing 500 SOL and a ‘micro’ alternative with 25 SOL per contract. Mathew Sigel, head of digital assets research at VanEck, stated that the move was ’one sizable step closer’ to a SOL ETF, although he clarified that the CME Futures weren’t necessary for ETF approval, they would still boost its odds. Analysts have predicted that SOL price could be range-bound for weeks or months.