Solana (SOL) experienced a sharp decline in trading activity during the second quarter of 2025, with total application revenue dropping 44.2% quarter-over-quarter to $576.4 million from $1.0 billion [1]. Daily average spot decentralized exchange (DEX) volume fell 45.4% to $2.5 billion, while perpetual trading volumes declined 28.5% to $879.9 million [1]. This revenue contraction is primarily attributed to the waning speculative fervor around memecoins that had driven record volumes in Q1 [1].
Applications reliant on trading fees, such as most DEX platforms, reported lower quarterly revenues as speculative activity decreased [1]. However, the network’s underlying fundamentals showed resilience. Total Value Locked (TVL) in DeFi protocols increased by 30.4% quarter-over-quarter to $8.6 billion, reinforcing Solana’s position as the second-largest network by TVL, having surpassed Tron in November 2024 [1]. The App Revenue Capture Ratio rose to 211.6% from 126.5%, indicating that applications now generate $211.60 in revenue for every $100 spent in transaction fees [1].
Liquid staking penetration also expanded, reaching 12.2% of the SOL supply from 10.4%, enabling broader DeFi applications built on yield-bearing SOL. Total staked value increased by 25.2% to $60 billion, while validator decentralization improved modestly, with the Nakamoto coefficient reaching 21 [1]. The Nakamoto coefficient measures decentralization by calculating the minimum number of entities needed to control over 50% of the network’s resources [1].
Anza, a key contributor to the Solana ecosystem, announced Alpenglow, a proposed consensus protocol redesign targeting sub-150 millisecond finality—a 100-fold improvement over the current 12.8-second confirmation time. The update also aims to eliminate vote transaction fees and streamline operations for smaller validators [1].
Institutional adoption gained momentum following the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approval of Rex Osprey’s Solana Staking ETF (SSK) on June 27, marking the first U.S.-approved staking crypto ETF [1]. The SSK, however, operates outside traditional SEC-registered spot ETF frameworks, offering exposure to SOL through derivative instruments rather than direct holdings. Nine additional firms have submitted applications for spot Solana ETFs, with a decision expected by October 2025 [1].
Network usage remained stable, with non-vote transactions rising by 4% to 99.1 million daily, while the number of fee payers slightly declined by 1.4% to 3.9 million [1]. SOL’s market capitalization grew 29.8% to $82.8 billion, maintaining its sixth place among cryptocurrencies [1].
The report concluded that Solana demonstrated its ability to sustain infrastructure development and attract institutional interest, even as speculative trading activity receded [1]. These metrics highlight a network that continues to evolve beyond short-term market cycles and into a more robust, institutional-grade platform.
Source: [1] Solana trading activity falls 44% in Q2 despite network fundamentals strengthening with rising DeFi adoption (https://cryptoslate.com/solana-trading-activity-falls-44-in-q2-despite-network-fundamentals-strengthening-with-rising-defi-adoption/)
