The crypto market has been navigating turbulent waters recently, marked by significant downward trends intensified further by President Trump's announcement of new tariffs. Amidst this volatility, various assets have recorded new lows—$SOL among them. For the first time in over 17 months, since breaking the $100 milestone in December 2023, $SOL has once again dropped below this critical price level.
However, a closer examination of Solana’s onchain metrics reveals a dramatically different story than that of December 2023. The ecosystem today is fundamentally stronger and significantly more active.
Enhanced Transaction Performance
One of the most notable improvements within the Solana network is its transaction throughput and success rate. Based on Flipside data, in December 2023, Solana struggled with transaction reliability—success rates fluctuated alarmingly between 37% and 48%. Such low rates posed serious concerns for scalability and reliability.
Fast forward to today, and this situation has dramatically reversed. Solana’s transaction success rate now ranges between 51.2% and 65.1%, effectively flipping the narrative on its previous challenges. More impressively, successful transactions per second (TPS) have doubled—from approximately 250 successful TPS in late 2023 to over 550 today, highlighting considerable infrastructure and protocol enhancements.
Rapid Growth in Active Users
Another sign of Solana’s ecosystem maturity is the sharp increase in daily active addresses. The network experienced a tenfold rise, peaking at over 4.5 million active daily wallets in recent weeks—an impressive leap compared to December 2023.
Even at its lowest points within the past month, the number of active addresses remained 4.8 times higher than December 2023’s peak.
Revenue Streams Expanding Significantly
Revenue generation is a critical indicator of any blockchain ecosystem's health, and here, too, Solana shows tremendous improvement. Historically, in December 2023, the majority of revenue came primarily from Priority Fees, totaling around $8.4 million monthly. At that time, Priority Fees accounted for 74% of revenue, with Jito Tips contributing significantly less.
Today, the revenue landscape has transformed substantially. Jito Tips now lead revenue sources, bringing in over $34.1 million within the last month alone—quadrupling Solana’s total December 2023 revenue. Priority Fees, though now second in rank, have also significantly increased, generating more than $21 million. Meanwhile, Base Fees have risen to over $1.75 million.
Collectively, these streams have driven Solana’s monthly revenue past $56.9 million—marking an incredible 577% growth compared to December 2023.
Robust Trading Volumes on Solana DEXs
Despite the recent bearish sentiment gripping the market, Solana-based decentralized exchanges (DEXs) have experienced consistently high trading volumes. Monthly DEX trading volumes peaked spectacularly at over $250 billion during the memecoin frenzy in January 2025.
Even now, amidst market uncertainties, trading volumes have sustained a strong showing, totaling more than $99 billion in the past month alone—a notable threefold increase compared to December 2023’s $32 billion.
Furthermore, the average daily trading volume has seen significant growth, currently standing at approximately $3.2 billion, compared to about $1 billion in December 2024—representing a remarkable 3.2-fold increase.
Stablecoins Fueling DeFi Expansion
Stablecoins represent the lifeblood of DeFi, and Solana’s ecosystem has witnessed significant progress here as well. The current total stablecoin supply on Solana has exceeded $12.6 billion, with $USDC maintaining dominance at over 76%.
Compared to December 2023, stablecoin supply has nearly doubled, showcasing an impressive 1.83x growth. Additionally, stablecoin diversity has expanded beyond the previously dominant duo—$USDC and $USDT—with the entry and notable growth of newer stablecoins like $PYUSD.
Total Value Locked (TVL) Soars
One of the most notable growth areas we've seen in the Solana ecosystem is its TVL, which has experienced substantial growth compared to December 2023.
According to DeFillama data, Solana’s chain TVL has now surpassed $6.28 billion. Although this marks approximately a 50% decrease from its peak in January 2025, it is still over 3.8 times greater than its previous peak of roughly $1.64 billion in December 2023, and around 4.3 times higher compared to late December of that year.
Furthermore, projects currently holding the largest share of TVL in the Solana ecosystem—such as Jito, Jupiter, and Kamino—were still in their early stages back then and had not yet reached their current maturity.
Solana’s Strength Beyond Price Volatility
While the price of $SOL has indeed retreated to levels below $100 for the first time in over 17 months, the ecosystem's fundamentals indicate a significantly healthier, more robust, and more active network compared to December 2023.
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