Crypto: Solana dethrones Ethereum in stablecoin transfer volume

Solana has taken the lead in the crypto rankings in terms of weekly stablecoin transfer volume, surpassing Ethereum and other major blockchains. This remarkable performance is fueled by the growing interest in memecoins, DeFi, and the massive adoption of USDC.

The Rise of Solana and USDC Adoption

According to data from blockchain analytics platform Artemis, Solana recorded a weekly stablecoin transfer volume of $364.7 billion, surpassing Ethereum ($152.99 billion), Tron ($101.57 billion), and BNB Chain ($22.75 billion).

Anna from the Solana Foundation quoted the Artemis data, stating that the overlap of users using USDC and USDT is 10.4% on Solana, compared to 10.9% on Arbitrum, 4.5% on Polygon, and 5.6% on Ethereum. Interestingly, about 70% of Solana users solely use USDC, while users on Polygon and Ethereum are more inclined to use USDT.

Stablecoin activity on Solana began to pick up in October 2023 and has since steadily increased by 1,770%. Meanwhile, Ethereum, historically the industry leader, has lost its dominance to Solana, now accounting for only about 27% of the stablecoin transfer volume.

Key Factors Driving Its Growth

Alongside the growth in stablecoin volumes, Solana has also seen an uptick in DeFi activity, with its total value locked reaching $4.55 billion, its highest level since April 2022, according to data from DefiLlama.

Solana-based decentralized exchanges (DEXs) have seen a notable 70% increase in trading volume over the week of March 19, reaching $3.37 billion and thus surpassing Ethereum ($3.05 billion). Orca, the largest DEX in the Solana ecosystem, accounts for 88% of the total volume across the 26 DEXs present on the blockchain.

This exceptional performance of the Solana network can be largely attributed to the growing craze for memecoins such as Book of Meme (BOME), Dogwifwhat (WIF), BONK, and Slerf. Additionally, the price of Solana’s native token has seen a spectacular rise of over 90% since the beginning of the year, reaching $193 at the time of publication.

Solana is currently at its peak, attracting both developers and investors. However, it remains to be seen whether this trend will continue in the long term and how Ethereum and other blockchains will respond to this increased competition.