Solana is defying the market downturn, generating significantly more revenue than Ethereum.

Data collected by blockchain researcher Aylo shows Solana-based apps pulled in ten times more revenue than their Ethereum-based counterparts.

Speculation as an Economic Backbone

Aylo’s figures revealed Solana’s stronghold is on-chain activity. In the last 24 hours, apps on the network generated $8.4 million in revenue, nearly 10x more than Ethereum’s $875,613 in the same period.

This trend also extended to trading volumes, with Solana doubling Ethereum’s numbers. Trading on the world’s second-largest blockchain by total value locked (TVL) hit $5.39 billion, more than twice the $2.14 billion recorded on its much larger rival. It was the same with perpetual trading volumes, with Solana registering $1.09 billion compared to Ethereum’s $470 million.

According to Aylo, this surge is largely fueled by retail speculation and high-frequency trading on Solana-based apps. Platforms such as Pump.fun and Bonkbot have contributed hugely to this revenue, creating a relatively stable financial base for the network.

The researcher argued that the foundation of Solana’s economic security is mainly built on speculative activity, adding that he does not see such activity ending any time soon:

“Just like online gambling never ceases, neither will this gambling/speculation, whether you like it or not (people like to play unwinnable lotteries). Solana has captured one of cryptos biggest use cases.”

However, some critics questioned Aylo’s numbers, arguing that app revenue metrics from DefiLlama, which the analyst seemingly relied on, might not be entirely accurate. According to them, some major Ethereum apps, such as Uniswap, are not included in the dataset.

Despite the inroads Solana is making, Ethereum has maintained its dominance in large trade volumes and liquidity pools. A recent report by OKX revealed that most high-value trades, especially those larger than $50,000, still occur on the network and its layer-2 chains.

It also boasts a better quality of liquidity pools, holding ten of the top 20 positions, with Base hosting five and Arbitrum and Binance Smart Chain having two each. This leaves Solana with just one liquidity pool representing the network on the list.

Growth and Future Outlook

Ultimately, while Ethereum has a historical lead, with its $74.3 billion TVL dwarfing Solana’s $9.5 billion, the latter’s momentum is undeniable.

Long-term institutional adoption of the network’s native SOL token could be useful, especially with observers asking what non-speculative use cases will solidify Solana’s place in the industry. Recently, the CBOE filed a flurry of proposals for Solana exchange-traded products on behalf of several crypto investment firms, including VanEck, Bitwise, and 21Shares.

While the odds of such a product getting approved may currently be low, given the SEC’s past categorization of SOL as a security, the appointment of more crypto-friendly agency leadership offers a sliver of hope for the applicants.