In a particularly turbulent 2025, Solana (SOL) managed to come out on top. Is that enough to approach 2026 with optimism?
Solana, One of the Heavyweights of 2025
Despite the market’s ups and downs in 2025, Solana managed to attract a growing number of users. Last year, the blockchain boasted 98 million monthly unique users according to some estimates, which would place it far ahead of some of its competitors. In total, 34 billion transactions are reported to have been processed via Solana over the past 12 months.
This surge has enabled Solana to compete with Ethereum in certain areas, including revenue. The blockchain reportedly generated $1.3 billion in revenue in 2025, according to CryptoRank and Artemis Analytics… which is more than Ethereum generated over the same period.
This increase in activity is primarily due to the boom in decentralized finance (DeFi), as well as a memecoin ecosystem that continues to thrive. As a result, Solana is reported to have captured 26.8% of global blockchain traffic in 2025, according to data from MEXC.
Solana: Will the SOL cryptocurrency skyrocket in 2026?
Given this, SOL appears almost undervalued. Driven by a broad market rally, it reached $255 in early October 2025, an all-time high. But the decline since then has been prolonged: in three months, SOL has lost 55% of its value:
Solana’s SOL price drops at the end of 2025
This discrepancy between the network’s momentum and the SOL price can be explained by several factors. First, it’s important to note that fees are very low, so each transaction generates little value. Even with a high transaction volume, the value captured—which influences the SOL price—remains limited.
Furthermore, SOL’s previous rally may have burned some investors. Until October 2025, the price was driven by the memecoin boom and clearly speculative momentum. However, we can see that the waning of this momentum led to the price drop. New narratives will therefore likely be needed to drive the price higher.
In other words, Solana remains a blockchain highly susceptible to cyclical enthusiasm, which does not favor more “institutional” positions. Added to this is the thorny issue of “fake transactions”—some commentators believe that a significant portion of the volume is due to trading bots.
The result: adoption has exploded faster than Solana’s ability to capture value for its token.
At the same time, overall liquidity has normalized, leading to record activity and a decline in price. So, will Solana manage to bridge the two? To do so, it will need to capture attention beyond market cycles, as Bitcoin and Ethereum are currently doing.
