Solana Stablecoin Adoption Up 600% in 12 Months: 21Shares Report

A new report from ETP issuer 21Shares highlights Solana’s growth in 2024 and examines how it compares to other blockchains. According to the report, Solana surged 80% last year, outperforming both Ethereum and Bitcoin.

The network processes up to 65,000 transactions per second, with average fees around $0.03. 21Shares also compares Solana’s performance and use cases to other major blockchains:

• Ethereum focuses on security and decentralization, with over 1 million validators and strong institutional interest.
• Sui is built for gaming and social apps, offering high speed and low fees of about $0.006.
• TON taps into Telegram’s large user base, aiming to boost everyday crypto adoption.
• Solana stands out for speed and efficiency, and is becoming a key player in AI, DePIN, and retail activity.

21Shares further highlighted several key aspects of Solana's performance. 

Solana Stablecoin Adoption Increased by 600% in the Last 12 Months

At its peak in January and February 2025: 

• Solana processed $364 billion in volume, more than half of Nasdaq’s exchange volume during the same period, and outpaced Ethereum. 
• Capital deployed on the network has surged by nearly 2,000%, reaching close to $7 billion. 
• Meanwhile, Solana’s native cryptocurrency, SOL, hit a new all-time high of $294 on January 19, 2025.
• Stablecoin activity on Solana also grew significantly, jumping 600% from $2.16 billion to over $12 billion, driven largely by cross-border payments.

Solana continues to gain traction among major players like PayPal, Visa, and Shopify. PayPal and First Digital now hold over $100 million in stablecoins on the network, while Visa uses Solana for high-speed USDC settlements. The network also enables near-instant, low-fee retail transactions using crypto.

Related: Solana in March: A Cooldown or the Calm Before the Surge?

Heavy Reliance on Memecoin Trading Creates Challenges 

Memecoins have been the driving force behind Solana’s recent surge in activity, fueling a significant share of on-chain growth. At their peak, memecoin trades accounted for roughly half of all DeFi volume on the network. In one instance, a spike in TRUMP token activity generated $30 billion in trading volume over just 48 hours, briefly pushing Solana’s weekend traffic to Nasdaq-like levels.

While this hype attracted massive liquidity and users, it also brought issues like sketchy token launches and short-term drops in activity.  According to 21Shares, this tendency increases reputational risks and ecosystem volatility. However, the report mentions that this can be overcome by diversified network usage and reduced reliance on memecoins. 

Among other network challenges, 21Shares mentions decentralization and security risks, rising competition, and validator client centralization.