- • Solana surpassed Ethereum in weekly total fees for the first time in the week of July 22, earning $25 million versus Ethereum’s $21 million.
- • The surge in Solana’s fees was driven by the ongoing frenzy of celebrity coin trading hosted largely on Solana-based memecoin platforms.
- • On July 28, Solana topped $55 million in daily total fees, the highest for the network in three months.
Solana, the so-called “Ethereum killer”, surpassed Ethereum in total fees earned for the week of July 22nd, marking the first time Solana has beaten Ethereum in weekly fee revenue.
Solana’s Rise in 2022
Solana has been on a massive run in 2022, fueled by the ongoing memecoin trading frenzy happening largely on Solana-based platforms like Pumpfun and Moonshot. Memecoins now exceed $50 billion in total market capitalization.
Total value locked (TVL) on Solana has exploded to around $55 billion, increasing over 3x since the start of 2022 according to DefiLlama. On July 28th, Solana topped $55 million in daily total fees, its highest daily total fee revenue in 3 months according to Blockworks Research.
Solana’s Fee Revenue Breakdown
According to Blockworks Research, Solana earned approximately $25 million in total fees for the week versus Ethereum’s $21 million. 58% of Solana’s fee revenue came from MEV (maximum extractable value) tips, while 37% came from priority transaction fees.
Solana stakers and validators have benefited tremendously from Solana’s growth, earning cumulative rewards of over $32 million to date and currently generating yields of around 7% according to Dune Analytics. By comparison, Ethereum is yielding 3.3% according to StakingRewards.com.
Ethereum Still Leads in TVL and Protocols
While Solana has surpassed Ethereum in weekly fee revenue, Ethereum remains the leader in total value locked at nearly $60 billion and number of protocols at 1,135 according to DefiLlama.
Celebrity Coins Crash on Solana
The recent surge of celebrity token launches on Solana has resulted in catastrophic losses for investors, with most coins falling over 99% in value according to a report. Even the best-performing celebrity coins are down over 70% already, just a month after launch.
Conclusion
Solana’s ascendance represents a legitimate threat to Ethereum’s dominance. However, Ethereum still leads substantially in TVL and number of DeFi protocols. It remains to be seen whether Solana can sustain its momentum and continue chipping away at Ethereum’s market share over the long term.
