The hype around Solana has been easy to spot lately. With SOL trading above $136 and daily network activity surging, bullish calls are getting louder — including predictions that Solana (SOL) could end up hosting 95% of crypto users. But this week, co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko offered a cold dose of realism: not without a ton of work.
Yakovenko’s comment is not a dismissal, but rather a reminder. Solana might be leading on execution, but translating that into dominance will take more than speed. Turning high engagement into high retention — that’s the real work now.
Alex DovbnyaLooking at metrics, Solana’s total value locked sits around $8.819 billion, trailing Ethereum’s $50.234 billion. Despite that, it’s punching above its weight in volume. Solana leads all chains in daily DEX trading, with over $1.719 billion in 24-hour volume — ahead of Ethereum’s $924.73 million and BNB Chain’s $654.88 million.
Stablecoin activity tells a similar story. Solana hosts roughly $12.71 billion in stablecoins, heavily dominated by USDC, which makes up 76.52% of the supply. Ethereum, by contrast, supports a stablecoin market topping $122.279 billion, reflecting deeper liquidity and use across lending, derivatives and structured products.
Gamza KhanzadaevValidator incentives on Solana remain slim. Annual rewards come in around 424 SOL per validator, or roughly $35,000 at current prices — enough to cover costs, but thin compared to other ecosystems with stronger staking yields or native fee models.
Godfrey BenjaminSo yes, Solana is fast. It is cheap. It is where a growing number of users are trading. But the broader DeFi picture is still forming — and so far, usage is not fully converting into capital depth or protocol diversity.
Vladislav Sopov
Dan Burgin