Solana News Today: Solana's Scalability and Institutional Hype Fuel 218% Revenue Surge, Outpacing Ethereum

Is Solana Set to Overtake Ethereum in 2025? A Record-Breaking Quarter Says Yes^[1]

Solana's Q1 2025 revenue of $369.5 million has already surpassed half of its total 2024 earnings, outpacing Ethereum's $220.8 million in the same period, according to 21Shares analysis. This growth underscores Solana's rapid ascent in the blockchain sector, driven by its focus on scalability, low transaction fees, and institutional adoption. In contrast, Ethereum's revenue growth has slowed, with its Q1 2025 earnings reflecting a 81% year-on-year increase compared to Solana's 218% surge.

Solana Co-founder Highlights This Key Metric Vs Ethereum: Details^[2]

Solana's performance in Q1 2025 highlights its competitive edge over Ethereum. The network processed 2.9 billion transactions in August 2025-equivalent to Ethereum's total lifetime transactions since 2015-and generated $148 million in app revenue, a 92% year-on-year increase. Active addresses on Solana doubled to 83 million, and the network launched 1.34 million new tokens, primarily meme-based projects. These metrics indicate strong developer activity and user engagement, contrasting with Ethereum's reliance on its established DeFi ecosystem and slower transaction speeds.

Solana vs. Ethereum: Who’s Winning the Real-World Asset Tokenization Battle in 2025?^[3]

Ethereum's dominance in the real-world asset (RWA) tokenization market remains robust, holding 83.69% of the $7.5 billion sector as of mid-2025. However, Solana's RWA market share grew 218% to $550 million, driven by partnerships with institutions like BlackRock and Anchorage Digital. While Ethereum's high gas fees and lower throughput (15–45 TPS) persist as challenges, Solana's 65,000 TPS and low fees have attracted projects tokenizing U.S. treasuries and real estate. Analysts project Solana could surpass ZKSync Era's 17.2% RWA market share within 18–24 months if adoption trends continue.

Ethereum vs Solana in 2025: What Founders and Builders Need^[4]

The technical and institutional advantages of Solana are reshaping blockchain dynamics. Its Alpenglow upgrade, including Votor and Rotor, reduced block finality time to 150 milliseconds, enabling real-time applications. Meanwhile, Ethereum's Pectra upgrade in May 2025 aims to enhance scalability but faces hurdles in reducing gas fees. Institutional investors, such as DeFi Development Corporation, have allocated $409 million to Solana treasuries, staking tokens to earn yield. This contrasts with Ethereum's slower institutional uptake, where high fees and complexity persist despite its mature ecosystem.

Market analysts suggest Solana's growth trajectory could redefine the blockchain landscape. With a 3.9% RWA market share and a 46% year-on-year increase in transactions, Solana's scalability and cost efficiency position it as a viable alternative to Ethereum for high-volume applications. However, challenges remain in liquidity and regulatory clarity. Ethereum's upcoming Cancun-Deneb upgrade, expected to reduce gas fees by 50–70%, may mitigate some of Solana's advantages. The competition highlights a broader shift toward performance-driven blockchain solutions, with investors balancing Ethereum's stability against Solana's momentum.