Solana Emerges Victorious Over Ethereum in Stablecoin Volume and Online Interest

Solana surpasses Ethereum in stablecoin and NFT volumes

In the past week, Solana led the way in stablecoin transfers, totaling $103 billion, surpassing Ethereum for the first time in stablecoin volume. Solana ranked ahead with $103B, followed by Ethereum with $90.9B, Tron with $82.3B, and BNB Chain with $14.6B in stablecoin transfers, according to Artemis data.

Additionally, Solana's USDC outperformed Tron-based USDT as the most transacted stablecoin by volume, as highlighted by former Messari researcher Qiao Wang.

Notably, Solana exceeded Ethereum in NFT trade volume for December, hosting $366.6M and $353.2M worth of trades, respectively. However, recent data from CryptoSlam indicates a slightly lower figure for Solana at $329.3M in NFT sales over the past 30 days, compared to Ethereum's $345M.

Beyond transaction volumes, global searches for "Solana" surpassed "Ethereum" for the first time in mid-December, as revealed by Google Trends.

Solana's Resilient 2023

Solana's 2023 demonstrated impressive growth, witnessing a significant surge in SOL token price by 936%, rising from $9.97 to $103.3 by year-end, driven by FTX's decision not to liquidate its holdings and increasing network adoption. However, SOL experienced a 4% drop recently after hitting $121.4 in late December.

The network's DeFi sector also thrived, with total value locked surging from $412M to $1.42B in a two-month period, as reported by DeFi Llama.

Solana-based decentralized exchanges marked a record-breaking month in December, reaching $28B in trades, led by Jupiter DEX accounting for $17B. Solana ranked second in monthly DEX volume after Ethereum's $42.4B.

Future Prospects for Solana

Anticipation surrounds the launch of Firedancer, an open-source validator client developed by Jump Crypto to enhance Solana's decentralization and mitigate potential network vulnerabilities. Firedancer is set to launch by the latter half of 2024. Solana's community eagerly awaits this development as the network continues to evolve and compete in the ever-expanding crypto space.