Solana Surges: TVL Up 64% in Q4, Revenue Outpaces Ethereum

Solana, a high-performance blockchain platform, has been making significant strides in the cryptocurrency landscape, outshining Ethereum in terms of total value locked (TVL) and revenue generation. According to a report by Messari, Solana's TVL surged by 64% in the fourth quarter of 2024 compared to the third quarter, and by 486% year-over-year, reaching an impressive $8.6 billion. This growth has positioned Solana as the second-largest blockchain by TVL, surpassing Tron in November 2024.

The TVL represents the total value of digital assets staked or locked within a blockchain's smart contracts. Raydium, Solana's largest decentralized exchange (DEX), led the charge with an 86% increase in TVL quarter-over-quarter, closing the year with a 24% market share. Messari attributes Raydium's dominance to memecoin and AI-related crypto trading. Despite a slowdown in retail trading and a cooling crypto market, Solana continues to generate more revenue than Ethereum, as reported by DefiLlama. As of February 2025, Solana's app revenues exceed Ethereum apps tenfold, even when considering the numerous Layer-2 blockchains on Ethereum that host a vast share of trading activity.

Solana's revenue exceeded $8.4 million on February 9, compared to $875,571 for Ethereum. However, Ethereum still leads in terms of TVL, with just under $57 billion compared to Solana's $9.5 billion. With Bitcoin migrating to Solana through platforms like Zeus Network, Solana is expected to surpass Ethereum in TVL in the near future.

Solana's speed, scalability, and low transaction costs have attracted institutional and retail users alike. The blockchain is designed to handle up to 65,000 transactions per second (TPS), supporting highly data-intensive operations. Institutions such as Franklin Templeton, BlackRock, and Société Générale have shown interest in Solana due to its reliable security and low transaction costs. Securitize, one of BlackRock's leading partners, is collaborating with Solana to streamline and simplify tokenization, providing investors with access to diverse financial products.

The number of active Solana wallets has grown fourfold from