Solana started a vital year for its network by gaining a marginal 4.14% from Jan. 1-8, despite a market drawdown due to Bitcoin’s failure to establish support above $100K.
TL;DR
- Solana up 4.14% to $197, TVL reaches $8.8B
- DEX volume hits $27.5B, surpasses Ethereum and Base
- New quantum-resistant vault introduced for enhanced security
- Solana leads NFT space with 30.6% market share
- Insider trading scandal: $20M profit from Focai meme coin
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Introduction
Solana started a vital year for its network by gaining a marginal 4.14% from Jan. 1-8, despite a market drawdown due to Bitcoin’s failure to establish support above $100K.
Beyond the price action, Solana gained ground behind the scenes. In a week where we saw a new generation of powerful devices launched at CES 2025, Solana developers claim that it is quantum-resistant and there is a proposal on the table to address Solana's scalability issues with a lattice-based hashing function.
And for a little bit of optimism, VanEck's research head has raised expectations for a U.S. Solana ETF in 2025. In case you don’t know, the SEC will vote on a number of applications by the end of January.
Other Solana OGs remain bullish.
Here is a rundown of key developments that impacted Solana and its ecosystem this past week.
Solana Numbers the Last 7 Days
- Price: $197.52, up 4.14%
- Market cap: $95.53 billion
- DeFi TVL: $8.792 billion
- Daily active addresses: >6.4 million
- 24H trading volume: $5.63 billion
The bulls came out guns blazing, driving Solana to a high of $221.9 before the market (read: Bitcoin) came crashing down like a house of cards after rumors of a U.S. government sell-off of Silk Road BTC started circulating.
Solana’s total value locked (TVL) climbed past $9 billion again and the daily active addresses surpassed 6.4 million.
Solana's DEX volume is the highlight of the week, rising by an impressive 47.66% to reach $27.5 billion. On Jan. 6, its 24-hour DEX volume neared $3.8 billion, surpassing the combined volume of Ethereum and Base. What a way to start the year!
The leading Solana-based DEXs were firing from all cylinders, with Raydium recording a 62.75% increase while Invariant nearly doubled its trading volume.
Source: DeFiLlama
How Did Solana Stack Up Against Its Competitors?
The majority of the top 10 cryptocurrencies are in the green, but the bigger story lies in the correction on Jan. 7. Bitcoin is up 2.42% but slipped below the $100K mark. Over $500 million was liquidated from the crypto market as investors hedge against a potential "Trump dump." XRP is up nearly 10% while Ethereum is almost unchanged.
The CMC Altcoin Season Index has dropped to 44, pushing back the prospects of an altcoin season. The Crypto Greed and Fear Index stands at a healthier 54, reflecting a neutral market sentiment. But this is crypto, and the situation can change in the blink of an eye. While a drop in the market mood might seem catastrophic in the short term, these corrections they create are very healthy in the long run, helping to flush leverage out and move coins to stronger hands.
Solana remains the second-largest DeFi network after Ethereum, maintaining a clear lead over Tron. It generated $5.07 million (over 24 hours) in fees, trailing slightly behind Ethereum’s $5.86 million.
Solana Ecosystem the Last Week
It was a relatively strong week for the Solana ecosystem, with its market cap gaining just over 2% and trading volume nearly doubling.
- The first week of the year has been positive for Solana's ecosystem tokens, with Render (RENDER) leading the way with a 17% gain.
- While many Solana-based altcoins saw modest single-digit increases, there were also notable losses across the board.
Top Gainers:
- Nosana (NOS): +38,94%
- Render (RNDER): +17.12%
- io.net (IO): +12.85%
- Pudgy Penguins (PENGU): +7.75%
Top Losers:
- Hivemapper (HONEY): -21.13%
- Orca (ORCA): -8.21%
Solana DeFi
Solana's TVL is up 4.27% this week, with its gains outpacing Tron and Ethereum. Sui's TVL climbed 13.63% to $1.865 billion but remains far behind Solana's $8.85 billion.
Solana accounts for 7.37% of the DeFi ecosystem, ranking second behind Ethereum. Tron takes the third spot with just over 6%.
Solana Meme Coins
Solana’s meme coin decline continued where it left off in 2024. A Blockworks Research report revealed that more than three-quarters of founders on the Solana network view meme coins as “mostly good,” with some expressing skepticism about AI agents.
Solana-based meme coins still present opportunities for huge profits, but some are willing to chase these profits by any means necessary. It’s suspected that 15 insider wallets have earned $20 million in profits from an initial $14,600 investment in Focai.
Sadly though, over 99% of Pump.fun's traders are in the red or have made less than $1,000 in profit at the expense of the “cabal” and serial project ruggers. This takes us to the performance of Solana’s meme coins this week.
- The majority of Solana's meme coins are in the red, with a few notching some gains.
Top Gainers:
Top Losers:
- Goatseus Maximus (GOAT): -19.18%
- Peanut the Squirrel (PNUT): -15.45%
- Moo Deng (MOODI): -14.64%
- Fwog (FWOG): -14.08%
- Popcat (POPCAT): -12.91%
Solana DePIN
- It was a mixed week for Solana DePIN tokens, evidenced by major gains and losses.
- Nosana (NOS) was one of the biggest gainers in the Solana ecosystem while Hivemapper (HONEY) experienced the opposite trend.
Just how accurate is DePIN revenue reporting in general?
NFTs
- Solana dominates the NFT space with the highest number of NFT users.
- Ethereum's user base decreased from nearly 25% to 20% over the week, while Solana saw a welcome increase to 30.6%.
- Base is hot on Ethereum's heels, followed by (wait, what?) Polygon.
Top 5 Solana News Stories
Solana Introduces Quantum-Resistant Vault for Enhanced Security
Solana developers have introduced the optional Winternitz Vault, a quantum-resistant solution designed to protect user funds from quantum computer threats by generating new private keys for each transaction, making it harder for quantum computers to execute coordinated attacks.
Solana Surpasses Ethereum and Base in 24-Hour DEX Volume
Solana's 24-hour decentralized exchange (DEX) volume reached nearly $3.8 billion on January 6, surpassing the combined volume of Ethereum and Base, highlighting its growing dominance in DeFi.
Insider Trading Nets $20M Profit on Solana’s Focai Meme Coin
At least 15 suspected insider wallets made over $20 million in profit on Solana's Focai meme coin launch, turning an initial $14,600 investment into a 136,000-fold return, raising concerns about market fairness and transparency.
Solana Proposes Lattice-Based Solution To Address Scalability Issues
Solana developers have proposed a new lattice-based hashing function to improve scalability by enhancing how the network verifies and tracks user accounts, aiming to solve the "state growth problem" caused by mass usage.
Phantom Wallet Dismisses Airdrop Rumors
Phantom Wallet has denied rumors of an upcoming token airdrop, clarifying that there are no plans to launch a token despite speculation following the announcement of its new social discovery feature.
What You Can Do Now
- Check out Solana’s quantum-resistant Winternitz Vault for enhanced security.
- Join Solana's ecosystem as its DEX trading volume outpaces Ethereum.
- Solana meme coins offer exciting opportunities but steer clear of pump-and-dump schemes to protect your investments.
- Don't fall for token and airdrop scams—Phantom is not launching one any time soon.
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