Solana active addresses slump to yearly low as memecoin momentum fades

Solana’s active addresses on Thursday fell to a 12-month low of about 3.3 million, sharply retracing from the network’s January peak above 9 million. At the time of publication, DeFi TVL stands at around $10 billion, led by Jupiter, Kamino, and Jito.

Solana active addresses surged throughout late 2024 following the memecoin frenzy on the network. Solana’s growth stemmed from its faster speeds and lower costs for memecoin launches and trading compared to Ethereum.

Trend shifts lead to reduced active addresses on Solana

The decline in Solana’s active addresses has been progressive throughout this year, driven by a drop in memecoin enthusiasm from its peak levels. On-chain data showed that Pump.fun has generated over $1 million daily and accounts for roughly 90% of the market share among token launchpads. The continued participation in memecoin on the platform, while participation decreases across the sector, suggests that there’s persistent concentrated activity in specific segments.

The drop in memecoin activity also highlights how quickly trends can shift in crypto markets, showing the importance of ecosystem diversification. Solana memecoins have demonstrated that networks anchoring their growth to a single narrative or use case are vulnerable when that narrative loses momentum. The trajectory of Solana memecoins mirrors patterns seen across other chains; temporary shocks drive user activity, followed by eventual normalization.

Solana’s price has remained relatively unchanged over the past 24 hours, trading at around $154.64 at the time of publication. However, SOL has dropped by more than 4.6% over the past 7 days and by roughly 25% in the past 30 days.

Solana has been expanding its product infrastructure despite a slowdown in memecoin active addresses this year. The network is transitioning into decentralized exchanges, prediction markets, and real-world asset protocols. Data from DefiLlama showed that SOL’s TVL has surpassed $10 billion, with Jupiter, Kamino, and Jito leading the pack.

According to derivatives metrics, Solana traders have maintained balanced exposure throughout. Coinalyze data revealed that open interest for Solana futures stood at $3.3 billion

SOL ETFs record record inflows 

Despite the drop in SOL’s price, Solana ETFs surpassed Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs in inflows on Monday. Cryptopolitan previously reported that Solana spot ETFs garnered $6.8 million in net inflows during the previous week, ending November 10, outpacing Bitcoin and Ethereum funds. The inflows marked the fund’s second consecutive week of positive ETF demand.

“Options are now live on America’s largest Solana ETF, BSOL. Pretty remarkable. Institutional tools for risk management, yield enhancement, and efficient price discovery that are essential at scale.”

-Teddy Furaso, President of Bitwise.

Bitwise’s Spot Solana ETF (BSOL) reported $12.5 million in inflows on Wednesday, while Grayscale’s spot Solana fund (GSOL) saw $5.2 million in inflows. As of November 12, BSOL’s total holdings reached $344 million, and GSOL recorded $24.4 million in its balance sheet. 

Head of Research at K33, Velte Lunde, acknowledged that the launch of U.S. spot Solana ETFS was successful, and argued that it drew strong investor demand despite broader crypto fund outflows. He also said BSOL’s first-mover advantage and 0.20% fee have fueled the fund’s rapid growth, while GSOL’s 0.35% management fee has tempered its inflows.

Solana ETFs have now recorded 12 consecutive days of positive inflows, bringing total assets under management to more than $369 million since launch. Adding to the momentum, the New York Stock Exchange recently launched options trading for Solana ETFs.

Canary Capital CEO Steven McClurg argued that the momentum from Solana’s ETF success has ignited speculation that XRP and Dogecoin ETFs could soon follow. He told the Paul Barron Channel that an XRP fund would likely outperform SOL’s performance by a factor of two. The tech executive believes that the token’s global liquidity, clearer regulation, and payment utility will likely drive institutional players.