Solana (SOL) — a leader of the new crypto economy
The past year and the first half of 2025 have been a period of explosive growth for the Solana ecosystem. This success is not solely due to the price and market capitalization increases of Solana, but rather to the rapid rise in the number of new projects and ecosystem activity. By mid-2025, Solana had become a fundamental component of modern Web3 infrastructure — so much so that the decentralized sector could no longer function normally without it.
Solana — the most popular blockchain for new projects
By the end of 2025, Solana had overtaken Ethereum as the most popular blockchain for launching new projects. This achievement was made possible by the launch of 7,625 new teams on the Solana network in 2024 alone — an increase of over 83% compared to 2023.
Record activity without blockchain overload
Over the past 18 months, the Solana blockchain has been processing an average of more than 162 million transactions per day, making it the most active blockchain to date.
Moreover, by early July 2025, Solana set a record for uninterrupted 100% uptime — 15 consecutive months without a single second of downtime.
Another central point of pride for developers has been Solana's low transaction fees. Even at the peak of activity during the meme token TRUMP "fever," median transaction fees on Solana did not exceed $0.003178. This is more than 1,500 times lower than the fees on its main competitor, Ethereum.
Solana's growing economic relevance
Solana is outpacing all other blockchains in 2025 in terms of Real Economic Value (REV)* growth. In January alone, this metric increased by $550 million.
*REV (Real Economic Value) is a metric that reflects actual economic activity on a blockchain, excluding spam, fake, and insignificant transactions.
Solana also accounted for 81% of all DEX transactions in 2024. This trend has continued into 2025 — with over $890 billion in trading volume on decentralized exchanges within the Solana ecosystem in just the first five months of the year.
Solana also consistently ranks among the top five blockchains in terms of Total Value Locked (TVL) in DeFi projects, with values fluctuating between $8 billion and $9 billion.
The explosive growth in stablecoin volume on the Solana blockchain is also worth highlighting. Over the past 18 months, the volume of stablecoins grew from $1.5 billion to $11.7 billion. For example, in May alone, $1.75 billion worth of USDC was issued on Solana, excluding other stablecoins.
Growing real-world adoption
In 2024–2025, Solana has emerged as one of the leading blockchains in terms of real-world adoption, often outpacing larger blockchains.
Solana Economic Zones (SEZs) — free economic zones backed by governments and focused on blockchain innovation — launched worldwide from Kazakhstan to Argentina. For instance, Argentina's SEZ has already attracted over $500,000 USDC in direct investment.
The first mobile operator built on Solana — Helium Mobile — acquired over 300,000 new subscribers in Q1 2025. This is a remarkable result even by the standards of the largest traditional telecom operators.
Also noteworthy are the multiple filings for Solana ETFs on major U.S. stock exchanges. Approval of these filings is expected in the coming months, with the SEC's likelihood of approval estimated at 90–95%.
What's happening with the Solana price?
Solana's current price growth phase began back in October 2023. In mid-October, the price was around $22, but by the end of the year, it had surpassed $100. On November 23, 2024, Solana reached its all-time high (ATH) of $256.51.
Since reaching the ATH, Solana experienced a significant correction but has now returned to an upward trend. As of July 25, 2025, Solana is trading at around $180 per coin.
By the end of July, Solana's market capitalization had nearly reached $100 billion, placing it sixth in CoinMarketCap's global rankings.