By the end of May, decentralized crypto exchanges (DEX) operating on the Solana blockchain generated 24% of the total trading volume in this segment, although three years ago, the absolute leadership in it belonged to projects on Ethereum.
Pantera Capital analysts noted the recent rapid growth of Solana-based DEXs. Trading volume on decentralized exchanges in the Solana ecosystem increased by 60% in May 2024.
There are a few numbers regarding the growth of Solana fundamentals:
- the number of daily active users (DAU) on the network grew from 14,000 in October 2020 to nearly 1.3 million in May 2024;
- high-priority transaction processing fees grew from less than $100,000 per month in mid-2023 to a record high of over $60 million in March 2024;
- Solana accounted for 50% of all new tokens appearing on DEXs in May 2023, rising to 85% in May 2024.
The trends described above resulted in the trading volume of DEXs operating on the Solana blockchain exceeding 24% of the total trading volume of decentralized exchanges in May 2024. However, Solana-based DEXs were completely absent as recently as three years ago.
As one of the key reasons for such active growth, Pantera Capital analysts call the approach of Solana Labs and Solana Foundation to the development of the network, which, in their opinion, is similar to Apple’s approach to the development of macOS. In particular, they note the monolithic architecture of the Solana blockchain network, careful optimization of all its components, and the vertical integration of hardware and software, which allowed them to ensure a high level of performance.
Thanks to its architecture, Solana has gained great popularity among developers who are actively launching meme coins and decentralized infrastructure projects based on it. This, in turn, contributes to the growth of user on-chain activity and has a positive impact on SOL token quotes, which have grown by more than 670% over the past year, according to CoinGecko.
One of Solana’s key weaknesses is its lack of resilience, which has led to repeated blockchain network outages in the past. Algorand Foundation marketers even used this as a negative stereotype in their product’s advertising campaign. However, a full version of the Firedancer update is scheduled for release in 2025. It will include an advanced client validator developed by Jump Trading Group’s cryptocurrency division and designed to improve the performance, reliability, and security of the Solana blockchain network.
