Solana Blockchain Surpasses Ethereum in Popularity Quotient, Memecoins Contribute

Crypto enthusiasts seem to be taking advantage of the ongoing boom, generating major activity on blockchain networks. The ecological blockchain Solana, in the scale of the most popular, managed to beat Ethereum in recent days. This is due to the craze of Solana-based NFTs and memecoins that caught the attention of members of the global Web3 community. According to data compiled by Coinbase, in the last 24 hours alone, the Solana blockchain saw transactions worth $11 billion (roughly Rs. 91,703 crore) with people buying small tokens and memecoins based on the network.

In a recently published analysis, CoinGecko ranked Solana number one on the list of most popular blockchains. According to its data, Solana controls 49.3 percent of global crypto investor interest.

Solana was launched in 2020 by Solana Labs, which was founded by Anatoly Yakovenko and Raj Gokal in 2018. At the time of SOL’s launch, Solana’s native token was priced at $0.22 (roughly Rs. 18). Now, with the surge in Solana-based activities, the price of its token is also rising. This week, the price of the SOL token crossed the $200 mark (roughly Rs. 16,700) for the first time since its inception. After going through a period of mild price correction, SOL is currently trading at $175 (approx. Rs. 14,600). In fact, in the last one year, the value of SOL has escalated by a remarkable 700 percent.

The Solana blockchain has it is reported managed to raise $150 million (roughly Rs. 1,252 crore) through the sale of memecoins such as Bonk and Slerf. Subsequently, Solana’s transaction fees have also witnessed a spike in recent months, even though the blockchain is known for relatively cheaper gas fees.

“Solana showed tremendous strength. The total trading volume of DEXes is also heavily skewed towards SOL with a total volume of more than $6 billion (roughly Rs 50,190 crore) on the Solana chain in the last 24 hours; it’s only close to $2.1 billion (roughly Rs. 17,566 crore) in the case of Ethereum. Memecoin mania is the biggest driver of on-chain trading we’re seeing today,” the CoinSwitch Markets Desk told Gadgets360.

As for Ethereum, the blockchain underwent a major update called Dencun earlier this year. On the sidelines of this, the Ethereum blockchain secured the second rank in the list of most popular blockchains compiled by CoinGecko. Ethereum held 12.73 percent of the global traffic share between January 1 and March 18, 2024.

“This is likely because Ethereum is already well-established as an ecosystem and familiar to investors, so it is no longer considered a new, relevant crypto narrative,” the analysis noted.

BNB Chain, Cosmos, Avalanche and Arbitrum secured positions from third to sixth on CoinGecko’s list.