Solana News Today: Solana's Quiet Growth: Memecoins and DEX Dominance Defy Stagnation

Generated by AI AgentCoin World
Thursday, Sep 4, 2025 12:11 pm ET1min read
Aime RobotAime Summary

- Solana's August 2025 network revenue ($78M) marked a 24% YoY increase but remained the third-lowest monthly total, with stablecoin supply stagnating since March.

- App-generated revenue surged 93% YoY to $148M, driven by memecoin platforms like Pump and trading tools, validating the "fat memecoin app" thesis.

- Solana led L1 chains with $153B in spot DEX volume (adjusted), outpacing Ethereum, while prop AMMs captured $47B in August trading volume.

- Perps exchanges lagged with Hyperliquid dominating 71.6% market share, highlighting growth challenges despite Pump's 89% token launch dominance in August.

- Institutional confidence grew via $2.65B in new SOL treasury companies, with potential ETF approvals by October expected to boost tax efficiency and staking support.

In August 2025, Solana’s network revenue (REV) stood at approximately $78 million, marking it as the third-lowest monthly total of the year. Despite this, the platform recorded a 24% year-over-year increase in REV, indicating a moderate but positive trend in transactional activity [1]. However, stablecoin supply on the network has remained stagnant at between $10 billion and $13 billion since March, signaling a lack of significant growth in this segment [1].

Application revenues on

Solana
, however, tell a more optimistic story. The platform saw $148 million in app-generated revenue in August, a 93% increase compared to the same period in 2024. This growth is largely driven by trading tools and memecoin-related platforms, such as Axiom, Pump, Phantom, LetsBonk, and Photon. Analysts have noted that the core of this success appears to be rooted in the so-called “fat memecoin app” thesis [1].

Solana’s positioning as a leading venue for decentralized trading is supported by recent spot decentralized exchange (DEX) volume data. Adjusted for wash trading incentives, Solana led major layer-1 (L1) chains with $153 billion in spot DEX volume for August, surpassing Ethereum’s $143 billion. BNB Chain, while initially leading with $214 billion, saw its figures drop to $138 billion after excluding Alpha campaign tokens [1].

Within Solana’s DEX ecosystem, proprietary automated market makers (prop AMMs) have captured a notable share, with $47 billion in August trading volume. These platforms, which rely on single market-makers and route trades through DEX aggregators, are gaining traction among traders [1].

The platform also saw increased activity in perpetual (perps) trading, although Solana’s perps exchanges lag behind those on other blockchains. Jupiter Perps and Drift collectively accounted for 8.2% of the volume market share on Solana, while Hyperliquid dominated with 71.6%, averaging $10.4 billion in daily trading over the past 90 days. Ryan Connor from Blockworks Research noted that Solana’s growth has slowed in part due to Hyperliquid’s dominance and emphasized the importance of making Drift or similar platforms viable alternatives [1].

Solana’s memecoin ecosystem remains a key driver of activity. After a brief period of competition, the Pump platform reasserted its dominance, launching 148,000 tokens in the last week of August—nearly 89% of total token launches [1].

Looking ahead, Solana’s growth may also be influenced by developments outside of onchain products. Recent reports indicate that three new SOL treasury companies raised approximately $2.65 billion, signaling increased institutional confidence. Additionally, the potential approval of existing Solana ETF applications by October could provide a major tailwind. According to Blockworks Research, the upcoming ETFs are expected to offer improved tax efficiency, broader distribution channels, and support for in-kind creation and redemption, as well as staking [1].

Source: [1] Solana in 8 charts: August edition (https://blockworks.co/news/solana-charts-august-edition)