In the decentralized exchange (DEX) industry, Solana has been making waves. According to DeFi Llama, Solana’s protocols were the most active in December. Its trading volume surged to over $97 billion, a significant increase from the $22.6 billion in the same period last year.
What’s more remarkable is that this marks the third consecutive month Solana has outperformed Ethereum, the long – standing industry giant. In December, Ethereum’s protocols had a volume of over $74 billion, while Base and Arbitrum recorded volumes of $42 billion and $37 billion respectively.
Solana’s strong performance wasn’t limited to December. In November, its DEX networks boasted a volume of $129 billion, surpassing Ethereum’s $70.6 billion. In October, Solana handled $52 billion in volume compared to Ethereum’s $41 billion.
Raydium was a major contributor to Solana’s DEX volume, handling coins worth $65 billion in the last 30 days. Orca processed $24 billion, and Lifinity, Pump, and Phoenix combined for over $5.93 billion.
The growth of the meme coin industry on Solana has been a key driver of this increased volume. Thousands of meme coins have flocked to Solana this year, aided by the creation of Pump, a major token generator. The total market cap of all Solana meme coins exceeds $14.1 billion, led by Bonk, Dogwifhat, Popcat, and Peanut the Squirrel.
This growth has translated into significant profits for Solana and its native apps. In November, all Solana native dApps raked in a record $365 million in revenue. In 2024, Solana’s blockchain generated a record $725 million in fees, ranking it third among the most profitable chains, after Ethereum and Tron.
Developers and users are drawn to Solana for its much lower fees and higher throughput. Meanwhile, Base, the layer – 2 network launched by Coinbase, has also emerged as a star in 2024. Its total fees have climbed to over $82 million, and it has become the largest layer 2 network, with DEX networks handling over $181 billion in assets and total value locked soaring to $2 billion.
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