The Solana ecosystem has re-emerged into the spotlight amid shifting regulatory landscapes and market dynamics. With the ongoing FTX developments and the U.S. SEC classifying SOL as a security in lawsuits against major exchanges, investor attention has refocused on this high-performance blockchain. At the same time, growing interest in Bitcoin NFTs and new project launches have contributed to renewed activity on the network. This article provides a comprehensive analysis of Solana’s current state through chain data, ecosystem projects, developer engagement, and user trends—offering valuable insights for investors and crypto enthusiasts navigating the 2025 landscape.
Chain Data Insights
Total Value Locked (TVL)
As of July 23, Solana's Total Value Locked (TVL) stood at $359.9 million, ranking 10th among all public blockchains and Layer 2 networks. While this reflects a significant recovery—up approximately 47% from its January 2023 low of $244 million—it remains far below peak levels, with declines exceeding 95% from all-time highs and over 70% since the FTX collapse.
Despite these challenges, Solana’s TVL growth momentum is notable. Among top-tier blockchains, only Arbitrum, Optimism, and Mixin have outpaced Solana’s recovery rate. This resurgence signals sustained confidence in the network’s infrastructure and long-term potential.
Transaction Volume Trends
Following the FTX fallout, Solana experienced nearly two months of reduced transaction activity before witnessing two distinct spikes in usage:
- March 21 to May 15: A surge driven largely by Bitcoin NFT trading activity.
- Around June 19: A second peak likely influenced by broader market movements.
Currently, Solana processes around 20 million transactions per day, maintaining relative stability. The primary decentralized exchanges (DEXs) driving volume are Orca and Raydium, both showing resilience despite earlier downturns. Notably, DEX trading volume spiked during the immediate aftermath of the FTX collapse but dipped shortly after, only regaining steady footing in early 2025.
Developer Activity and Ecosystem Health
Developer engagement serves as a critical indicator of ecosystem vitality. After a brief uptick in March—when monthly active developers reached 2,732—the number dropped to 1,475 by June 1, representing a nearly 50% decline. Code commit frequency followed a similar trend, peaking in March before declining sharply.
This volatility is primarily attributed to fluctuations among non-full-time developers, while full-time contributor counts remained relatively stable. For context, a developer is classified as "full-time" if they commit original code for more than 10 days per month.
While overall development activity has cooled since Q1 2025, the foundation remains intact. Periodic dips do not necessarily indicate weakening fundamentals, especially given Solana’s focus on scalability and low-cost transactions—an architecture that continues to attract builder interest over the long term.
User Growth and Adoption
Solana saw a significant jump in new wallet creations between late April and May 2025, adding 3 million new addresses within a single month. Active address counts also surged during this period, outpacing previous growth phases.
This spike was largely fueled by Magic Eden’s expansion into Bitcoin NFTs via the Ordinals protocol. As one of the leading marketplaces for Ordinals-based NFTs, Magic Eden brought substantial cross-chain traffic to Solana, reinforcing its role as a hub for digital collectibles and creator economies.
Key Ecosystem Projects
According to DefiLlama, there are currently 98 tracked dApps on Solana, with 19 surpassing $10 million in TVL. These are concentrated in three core sectors: liquid staking, lending, and decentralized exchanges.
Liquid Staking Dominance
Marinade Finance leads Solana’s liquid staking sector with $159 million in TVL—accounting for roughly 46% of the market share. Users can stake SOL and receive mSOL, a liquid derivative that can be used across DeFi platforms like Solend and Jupiter.
mSOL is now listed on major centralized exchanges including Coinbase and Kraken, though most trading occurs on decentralized platforms. Other liquid staking protocols have also seen TVL increases—not due to user adoption spikes, but primarily driven by rising SOL prices.
Lending Protocols: Maturity vs Innovation
Solend, one of Solana’s earliest lending platforms (launched in 2021), rolled out its v2 upgrade in stages starting in April. Key features include:
- Reintroduction of mSOL liquidity mining
- Ability to convert staked SOL into mSOL for additional yield
Since June, Solend’s TVL climbed from $28 million to $55.28 million. However, its funds utilization rate remains low at 16.19%, indicating underutilized collateral and conservative borrowing behavior.
In contrast, Marginfi, a newer entrant launched in 2023, achieved remarkable growth with nearly 600% TVL increase over one month, reaching $17.93 million. Backed by Multicoin Capital and Pantera, Marginfi introduced a points system on July 3 that rewards users for deposits, borrowing, and referrals—likely the catalyst behind its rapid adoption. Its lending utilization stands at 21.7%, still below Ethereum’s Aave v3 (~35%), highlighting room for growth.
Decentralized Exchanges (DEXs)
Trading activity is concentrated on three platforms:
- Raydium: One of Solana’s first AMM DEXs; post-FTX TVL stabilized around $28 million.
- Orca: Recovered from $30M to $38M TVL, becoming the largest DEX on-chain.
- Jupiter Aggregator: Enhances trade efficiency by routing across multiple liquidity sources.
Despite stability, DEX operations remain conservative with limited innovation or incentives compared to Ethereum or emerging L2s.
NFT Market Dynamics
Solana ranks third in NFT trading volume behind Ethereum and Bitcoin. In the past 30 days, NFT交易额 increased by 75%, driven almost entirely by the short-term popularity of the Smart Monkey Business (SMB) series.
SMB is an algorithmically generated pixel-art monkey collection with Gen1 and Gen2 launched in 2021. In June 2025, the team released SMB Barrel Raffle tickets to mint Gen3, sparking massive trading—SMB captured over 90% of Solana NFT volume that month.
Another notable project, Bodoggos, co-created by Nifty Protocol and EasyEatsBodega, surpassed $2 million in monthly volume. However, both SMB and Bodoggos show declining daily trades after initial hype—indicating isolated success rather than broad market revival.
Historically top-performing NFT collections show little overlap with current leaders, suggesting shifting user preferences and lack of sustained momentum.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q: Is Solana’s ecosystem recovering after the FTX collapse?
A: Yes—while TVL remains far below highs, Solana has seen a 47% increase since early 2025. Transaction volume and user growth have stabilized, signaling gradual recovery.
Q: What is driving recent NFT activity on Solana?
A: The SMB NFT series launch and Magic Eden’s support for Bitcoin Ordinals have boosted short-term trading volume, though broader market engagement remains weak.
Q: How does Solana’s DeFi utilization compare to Ethereum?
A: Significantly lower. Lending protocols like Solend and Marginfi have utilization rates below 22%, compared to ~35% on Aave v3—indicating less efficient capital use.
Q: Why did developer activity drop after March 2025?
A: The decline was mainly due to reduced participation from non-full-time developers. Core teams remain active, suggesting structural stability despite short-term fluctuations.
Q: Can liquid staking boost Solana’s DeFi growth?
A: Marinade Finance already dominates with 46% market share. Wider adoption of mSOL across lending and yield platforms could deepen capital efficiency.
Q: Are new projects emerging on Solana?
A: Yes—Marginfi exemplifies innovation with its points-based incentive model. More user-centric designs may drive future adoption beyond speculative cycles.
Solana’s path forward hinges on balancing infrastructure strength with ecosystem innovation. While current data shows stabilization rather than explosive growth, key indicators suggest foundational resilience.