Solana adoption is on fire; over 10 million unique active addresses for 8 weeks and counting

Solana has gained significant traction since late last year, posting over 10 million active addresses for 8 weeks and counting. The data highlights the growing number of unique addresses as a function of the spike in Solana adoption since last year.

Dune Analytics data revealed that the blockchain has recorded over 22 million active addresses in the past week. DefiLlama data further indicated that the active addresses recorded on Solana over the past 24 hours were over 4.2 million. The numbers reflect the increase in user activity on the layer 1 blockchain. 

A recent Syncracy report indicated that the blockchain recently surpassed Ethereum across multiple metrics. The report compared Solana’s performance to Ethereum’s, showing Solana’s dominance across real economic value, DEX volumes, stablecoin volumes, total application volumes, and active addresses. 

Solana’s on-chain metrics have still received criticism for lacking transparency, including in October last year, when the blockchain hit over 100 million monthly active users.

In an October interview, Keyrock’s head of APAC business development, Justin D’Anethan, reportedly said that most of the addresses had balances below $10. D’Anethan suggested that the numbers showed a lack of legitimacy in the metrics. 

Data from Solana’s on-chain metrics website Hello Moon indicated that over 95 million SOL addresses have 0 SOL balances. Over 35 million addresses have less than 1 SOL, over 3.6 million have 1 to 10 SOL, and a little over 1.1 million have 10 to 100 SOL. 

Solana’s diversity contributes to the chain’s engagement

Despite previous criticism of its metrics, Keyrock APAC’s head of business development suggested that Solana’s speed and efficiency offer an alternative to other layer 1s, including Bitcoin and Ethereum.

A Syncracy report added that the chain’s developments, including the 2024 Token Extensions upgrade and the looming Firedancer update, are increasing overall interest in Solana. Another expected update is the Homographic Hashing of Account State proposal, which is expected to further boost the chain’s efficiency. 

The 2024 crypto developer report from Developer Report revealed that developers were also creating more utility for the Solana blockchain and SOL token. The report pointed out the increasing number of SOL DEX transactions, which now account for 81% of total DEX transactions. Developer Report also indicated Solana’s status as one of the go-to chains for low-fee NFT use cases. 

Data from DefiLlama revealed that Solana’s stablecoin supply has surged in the last seven days, reaching its highest point since September 2022. SOL’s supply is currently at $5.89B, just 5.76% short of its previous all-time high, recorded at $6.25B on June 4, 2022. Solscan data also disclosed that the blockchain’s growing stablecoin supply has been largely aided by Circle’s recent activity, which has minted 1B new USDC tokens so far in 2025.

Spot SOL ETF approval might boost Solana’s activity

Alright, I’ve seen enough…

Registering formal prediction.

Spot solana ETFs will be approved in 2025.

— Nate Geraci (@NateGeraci) December 30, 2024

The President of ETF Store, Nate Geraci, predicted on December 30 that SOL spot ETFs would be approved in 2025. The prediction came amid President Donald Trump’s approaching return to office and a change in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission leadership. Crypto markets are expected to benefit from Trump’s pro-crypto administration and crypto-friendly regulations.

Data from the predictions market Polymarket has also revealed that as of January 14, over 70% of bettors believe that a SOL ETF approval is imminent in 2025. 43% of voters also believe that a SOL ETF will be approved by July 31. 

The Wall Street financial giant JPMorgan also mentioned the possibility of a SOL ETF in 2025. The head of research at VanEck, Matthew Sigel, revealed research data from JPMorgan, which indicated that SOL ETPs might generate up to $3-6 billion in net new assets after launch. The bank also believes SOL’s ETP approval will draw on increased adoption trends from Bitcoin and Ethereum ETPs.

In a recent interview, Nansen’s Nicolai Søndergaard reportedly said that the SOL ETFs might drive more retail investor interest in SOL. Søndergaard further highlighted that Solana seemed more appealing to retail investors due to its low price per unit compared to BTC and ETH.

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