New market data shows that decentralized exchanges built on Solana have moved ahead of Ethereum in both daily and weekly trading volume. According to the figures cited in the report, Solana-based DEXs generated $1.447 billion in the past 24 hours, compared with $1.282 billion for Ethereum. Over the last seven days, Solana DEX volume reached $10.786 billion, exceeding Ethereum’s $9.604 billion.
Price momentum and airdrops boosted onchain activity
The surge appears closely tied to Solana’s recent market momentum and a wave of ecosystem airdrops. The report notes that SOL climbed about 40% over the previous week and has risen an extraordinary 895% against the U.S. dollar over the past year. That combination of price strength and token-driven activity helped push more traders toward Solana-native decentralized platforms.
Several protocols contributed heavily to the increase in volume, including Raydium, Orca, Lifinity, Phoenix, Openbook, and Mango Markets. Additional activity was also recorded on Drift, Crema, and Saber. A meaningful share of the trading spike was concentrated around Dec. 21, 2023, when recent Solana airdrops and stronger market sentiment fueled intense participation across the network.
Ethereum remains dominant, but the competitive picture is shifting
The report also makes clear that Ethereum still leads SOL on centralized exchange trading volume, suggesting Solana’s recent edge is strongest in native onchain and DeFi activity rather than across the entire crypto trading market. Even so, the latest DEX figures point to a notable shift in user attention and liquidity.
Raydium, currently Solana’s largest DEX by trading volume, is seeing its biggest pairs come from ANALOS/SOL, WIF/SOL, SILLY/SOL, and SOL/USDC. These trading pairs indicate that meme-token speculation and ecosystem token rotations are playing a visible role in lifting aggregate volume.
Overall, Solana’s move past Ethereum in decentralized exchange volume marks an important moment in the DeFi landscape. Ethereum remains a core force in decentralized finance, but Solana’s recent growth shows that competitive pressure in the DEX sector is intensifying and that its ecosystem is gaining meaningful traction.