Solana's Memecoin Surge Outpaces Ethereum

Solana Apps Outperform Ethereum Rivals, Revenue Surges

Despite a broader slowdown in the cryptocurrency market and decreased retail trading activity, Solana network continues to outperform Ethereum in terms of revenue generation. According to data from DefiLlama, Solana has maintained its lead over Ethereum, with a significant revenue gap between the applications running on both networks.

A crypto researcher named Aylo reported that as of a post on Feb. 10, Solana apps have brought in up to 10 times more revenue than their Ethereum counterparts. This revenue advantage for Solana persists even when considering Ethereum's layer-2 scaling solutions (L2s), which are designed to enhance the network's capacity for handling trading activity. On Feb. 9, Solana generated over $8.4 million in revenue, starkly contrasting with Ethereum's $875,571 on the same day.

Ethereum's leading L2s, Arbitrum and Base, have total value locked (TVL) figures of approximately $14 billion and $11.5 billion, respectively, according to L2Beat. However, Solana's TVL, although significantly lower at $9.5 billion compared to Ethereum's nearly $56.8 billion, does not seem to have impacted its ability to generate revenue.

The boost in Solana's revenues has been attributed mainly to the increase in memecoin trading, which has become a central component of the network's decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem in 2024. Research from Messari revealed that Solana's cumulative app revenue surged by 213% in the fourth quarter of 2024, driven largely by speculation in memecoin markets.

A standout performer was the memecoin launchpad Pump.fun, which reported $235 million in revenues for Q4, marking a quarter-over-quarter increase of 242%. Aylo commented on the persistent popularity of memecoin trading, likening it to the never-ending allure of online gambling. He suggested that this trend supports the valuation of Solana's native token, SOL, which has seen its value grow nearly twice as fast as Ethereum's ETH since the beginning of 2024, based on TradingView data.

Despite SOL's strong performance, Ay