The Solana blockchain has experienced a remarkable surge in trading activity, primarily driven by the burgeoning interest in meme coins.
March saw the trading volume across Solana’s decentralised exchanges (DEXs) soar to a new all-time high, surpassing $60.34 billion, according to data from DeFiLlama.
This figure represents more than a double from the previous record of nearly $28.5 billion in December 2023, signalling a significant uptick in both interest and participation in the Solana ecosystem.
Fuelling the frenzy
At the heart of this trading volume spike are meme coins on the Solana blockchain.
Leading the charge in this meme coin mania are names like Dogwifhat ($WIF) and Bonk ($BONK), which have seen substantial trading volumes. Moreover, the introduction of new coins such as Book of Meme ($BOME) and Slerf ($SLERF) has added to the frenzy, driving significant trading activity on Solana’s DEXs.
Notably, meme coins associated with political figures, including those tied to Donald Trump and Joe Biden, have also seen a surge in popularity and trading volume.
Much volatility was also noted in these meme coins following the sentencing of FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried, when multiple Solana-based meme coins, including “Som Bonkmon Fraud,” experienced dramatic surges in value — in some cases over 30,000% — before facing steep declines.
“Som Bonkmon Fraud”, for instance, saw its value spike by 15,000% with $24 million in trading volume, only to plummet by 90% the following day.
Leading DEXs
Orca, a prominent DEX on Solana, has been at the forefront of this trading rally, leading with $3.6 billion in trading volume over the last seven days.
Raydium and Phoenix followed, contributing to the ecosystem’s liquidity and trading dynamism.
Among the beneficiaries of this increased trading activity is Jupiter, a decentralised exchange aggregator whose native token $JUP surged 24.9% for the week, reflecting the growing interest and investment in the Solana DEX space.
In a move highlighting the community spirit of the Solana ecosystem, Jupiter’s co-founder announced plans to donate fees to Slerf pre-sale buyers after an accidental burning of $10 million worth of funds.
Impact on SOL
As the trading volume surges and meme coins continue to captivate the market, $SOL, Solana’s native token, faced a slight downturn, starting April down by over 8% in the last 24 hours.
This happened in the background of an overall market downtrend which saw major coins like $BTC and $ETH dip by over 6% and 7%, respectively.
Despite this, Solana’s market capitalisation reached an all-time high of over $90 billion in March, showcasing the robust growth and widespread interest in the platform.
