Solana Surpasses Ethereum in Monthly DEX Trading Volume for the First Time
Solana’s decentralized exchanges (DEXs) have emerged as the frontrunners in Web3, surpassing Ethereum in onchain volume, a title traditionally held by the latter.
In a groundbreaking development, Solana’s DEXs recorded higher monthly volume than Ethereum in July, with $54 billion compared to Ethereum’s $52 billion, as reported by DefiLlama. Presently, 29% of DEX trades occur on Solana, while 28% take place on Ethereum.
Ethereum Layer 2 Arbitrum secures the third position with $24 billion, followed by BSC at $17 billion, and Coinbase’s Ethereum Layer 2 Base at $15 billion, rounding out the top five.
A notable aspect of Solana’s DEX success is that if Ethereum Layer 2s were included in their base layer’s DEX activity, Ethereum would still maintain a significant lead.
The surge in Solana’s activity can be attributed to memecoins, new tokens introduced on the blockchain through pump.fun, a platform facilitating the rapid issuance of these largely frivolous coins. The creation of more than 17,100 tokens yesterday underscores the trend of launching double-digit memecoins since March.
Leading the decentralized exchanges on Solana are Raydium with $1.08 billion in Total Value Locked (TVL), followed by Drift at $400 million, and Orca at $251 million. The sector boasts $1.4 billion in 24-hour volume, according to DefiLlama.
Solana’s journey has been remarkable, overcoming challenges such as network congestion and its association with convicted crypto criminal Sam Bankman-Fried. The platform made its way into the top 10 for DEX volume in mid-2022 and surpassed Avalanche and Polygon in May 2022.
The most significant leap in Solana’s monthly DEX volume occurred in the last quarter of 2023, skyrocketing from $880 million in September to $28 billion. Should Solana-based memecoins continue to shape the market narrative, the network has the potential to maintain its position among the leading networks for the foreseeable future.
