Solana network activity plummeted, and the price followed suit
In the fourth quarter of 2025, the activity of the #solana network experienced a shocking decline, with overall network activity dropping by 97% compared to last year, and the price of SOL also significantly fell. This starkly contrasts with the peak period at the end of 2024, when the number of active traders exceeded 30 million each month, but by 2025, this number had dropped to less than 1 million. One analyst even questioned against the backdrop of the market's sluggish activity, "Has the era of Solana come to an end?" Although the overall market environment is also under pressure, with Bitcoin's price falling more than 30% this year, Solana's situation appears more nuanced and requires analysis in conjunction with network characteristics and ecological factors.
Meme Coins: The Revenue and Traffic Engine of Solana
In the Solana ecosystem, meme coins have always played an important role, serving as both a source of revenue and a driving factor for user traffic. In this cycle, both Solana and Hyperliquid have been relatively successful cases, especially SOL, whose price soared from $8 to nearly $300, growing over 35 times from the low point of the 2022 cycle. This indicates that when the blockchain can operate stably and minimize disruptions, meme coins can provide a large amount of user activity and transaction traffic for the ecosystem. However, the volatility of meme coin prices is extremely high, and their risks were starkly exposed during the market crash in 2025, where prices once dropped to the annual support level of $120 during the downturn, falling more than 58% from the peak. Despite this, some Solana supporters still view meme coins as 'test specimens' for ecosystem applications, believing that short-term gambling activities can filter out the most active and resilient user groups, providing experience for future real applications and institutional adoption.
Institutional Interest and Network Resilience
Despite a significant decline in the activity of the Solana network, its blockchain technology still attracts some institutional attention, such as Visa expressing its intention to use Solana for stablecoin settlements. If network activity is no longer solely reliant on high-risk meme coins or short-term speculative trading, but gradually shifts towards stable applications and institutional adoption, then its overall resilience is expected to improve. This also means that Solana may have the opportunity to narrow the gap with Ethereum in terms of revenue and ecosystem scale. Ethereum's annual revenue in 2025 has exceeded $1.4 billion, while Solana's revenue is only $502.2 million, making the former about three times that of the latter. In contrast, Solana's annual revenue in 2024 reached $2.5 billion, and this year's revenue has shrunk fivefold, highlighting the dramatic fluctuations in the market and ecosystem environment.
Comparison with Ethereum and Investor Returns
Compared to Ethereum, Solana still has a gap in institutional adoption and revenue scale. The performance of SOL in 2025 is expected to be 56% lower than ETH, in stark contrast to last year's relative return of over 24%. Analysts predict that the price of SOL may dip to the range of $50-75 in the first half of 2026, but there are differing opinions suggesting that due to up to $1 billion in leveraged short positions in the market, the price of SOL may see some upward movement, potentially rising by 15% to reach $134-140. For investors, this means there are still opportunities amid short-term volatility, but they also need to be cautious of the uncertainties in network activity and market sentiment.
Final Thoughts
Solana's main network activity has relied on meme coins, which experienced a price drop of over 90% in 2025, directly dragging down the price of SOL. Unlike the expectations for 2024, this year Ethereum's annual revenue is three times that of Solana, reflecting the reality of differences in institutional adoption and ecosystem scale. Whether Solana can break free from its reliance on short-term high-risk speculation will directly determine its ecosystem resilience and investor confidence. For those interested in blockchain development and investment opportunities, Solana is both a high-risk, highly volatile platform, but also one that contains potential value and experimental significance.
