Solana Surpasses Ethereum in Monthly DEX Trading Volume for the First Time
August 2, 2024
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.
