The largest altcoin by market value, Ethereum (ETH), is also the biggest smart contract platform. Trillion-dollar giants and major banks are tokenizing assets on this network. Popular crypto protocols operate on this network and layer2 solutions. However, one of the Ethereum killers has managed to surpass it in at least one aspect.
Ethereum and Solana
In terms of TVL, network protocols, and many other aspects, Ethereum is beyond its competitors. In fact, under current conditions, we can say it is unrivaled. But we cannot say it is invincible in every aspect. Especially with transaction fees significantly weakened by Dencun, Solana did what was expected and surpassed it in weekly transaction fees.
According to the Blockworks Research report, in the week of July 22, Solana surpassed Ethereum for the first time in total weekly fees. Solana collected $25 million in transaction fees, significantly surpassing Ethereum’s $21 million.
The meme coin frenzy on the Solana network enabled a few lucky investors and developers to gain thousands of times their investment. These stories attracted new investors to new altcoins. However, it should be remembered that such meme coins are like a flash in the pan, and with over a hundred thousand tokens issued weekly, this is not surprising.
Future of the Solana Network
According to DeFiLlama’s data, the total value locked (TVL) on Solana is increasing much faster than expected. The total value locked at the beginning of 2024 has more than tripled, reaching $5.5 billion. Earnings from daily transaction fees also exceeded $5.5 million, surpassing the three-month (bull period) mark.
According to Dune’s analytics page, Solana stakers earned more than $32 million in cumulative rewards. Tips for validators and MEV significantly increase earnings here. 58% of the fees come from MEV tips, and 37% come from fees sent to prioritize transactions.
In terms of total value locked, the Ethereum network stands at exactly $60 billion. This means it is still more than 10 times ahead of Solana. At the same time, according to DeFiLlama, Ethereum hosts the most protocols with 1,135. Moreover, these protocols are the most popular in the crypto space.
Crypto analyst Slorg warns on one issue;
“Exactly half have dropped over 99%. New tokens on the Solana network resulted in significant losses for investors. Let me remind you, this is just within a month of their lifespan.”
