Solana has surpassed Ethereum as the leading blockchain in weekly stablecoin transaction volume as investors chase yields, air drops, and high returns from memecoin frenzy. According to blockchain analytics platform Artemis, Solana’s weekly stablecoin volume reached $364.7 billion, overtaking Ethereum’s reported $152.99 billion. Other top chains, such as Tron and BNB Chain, recorded sales of $101.57 billion and $22.75 billion, respectively.
This surge contributes to the total stablecoin transaction volume for March, currently at $804 billion, nearly overshadowing Solana’s $960 billion in February. As of March, the year-over-year increase in stablecoin transaction volume is 3410%, jumping from $11.56 billion in March 2023 to $804 billion. Solana now holds a 42.3% market share in stablecoin transactions, a significant rise from the previous year’s 1.9%. Stablecoin activity on Solana began to rise in October 2023, showing a consistent increase of 1770% since then.
Ethereum, traditionally leading in stablecoin transaction volume, has been trailing behind Solana since the start of the year. In December 2023, Layer 1 blockchain had over 31% market share, but has since lost its dominance to Solana, now accounting for about 27% of stablecoin transaction volume. Tron is the third-largest blockchain for stablecoin transactions, with $101.57 billion last week and $366.5 billion so far in March.
DeFi activities on Solana have also increased, reaching a total value locked of $4.55 billion, the highest since April 2022. This growth is mirrored in the rise of decentralized exchange (DEX) volumes, with Solana-based DEX transactions increasing by 70% in a week to $3.37 billion on March 19, surpassing Ethereum and other chains. In comparison, Ethereum-based DEX volumes increased by only 0.63% to $3.05 billion during the same period.
Solana hosts 26 DEXs, with Orca being the largest, accounting for 88% of the total volume. The network’s performance has been bolstered by growing interest in memecoins, led by tokens like Book of Meme (BOME), Dogwifwhat (WIF), BONK, and Slerf. Solana’s price has risen over 90% this year, trading at $193 at the time of reporting, 35% below its all-time high of $260 in November 2021, still on the path to breaking this level and exploring new price discovery.
