Solana Statistics 2025: Validator Counts, DeFi TVL, and NFT Volumes

In late 2020, few could have predicted that a lesser-known blockchain called Solana would go on to become a pillar of Web3 infrastructure. It began as a bold experiment—an ultra-fast, low-fee network aiming to challenge Ethereum’s dominance. By 2025, that vision has crystallized into reality. Whether it’s DeFi, NFTs, or institutional adoption, Solana is no longer the underdog—it’s a defining force.

This article brings you the most recent and relevant statistics about Solana’s performance, usage, and impact. We’ll help you make sense of the numbers in a way that’s easy to understand—even if you’re not knee-deep in crypto every day.

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• $85.7 billion: Solana’s total market capitalization as of March 2025—marking a 96% increase from the previous year.
• Over 2.2 million daily active wallets are transacting on the Solana network in Q1 2025.
• Solana maintains a 65,000 TPS (transactions per second) throughput in real-time environments.
• The average transaction fee on Solana remains at $0.00025, one of the lowest across all major blockchains.
• The number of validators has grown to 3,248, supporting decentralization across 45+ countries.
• Solana’s DeFi ecosystem holds over $9.3 billion in TVL, making it the third-largest after Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain.
• In Q1 2025, NFT trading volume on Solana surpassed $1.2 billion, driven by new gaming and collectible markets.

Blockchain Throughput (TPS) Comparison: A Glimpse at Scalability

• Ethereum processes just 0.08 TPS, highlighting its limited base-layer throughput.
• Polygon, a scaling solution on Ethereum, slightly improves performance to 0.1 TPS.
• Ethereum 2.0 achieves 1.3 TPS with its transition to proof-of-stake, offering modest gains.
• Celestia, a modular blockchain, clocks in at 1.4 TPS, showing slight improvement over Ethereum 2.0.
• Avail, another modular chain, boosts throughput to 6.4 TPS, marking a notable leap in efficiency.
• EigenLayer pushes further with 15 TPS, leveraging restaking mechanisms for higher scalability.
• Next-gen blockchains like Sui and Aptos raise performance to 100 TPS, thanks to modern architecture.
• Solana delivers 125 TPS, positioning itself as a high-throughput leader.
• Solana’s Firedancer upgrade skyrockets capacity to 1,250 TPS, making it the undisputed leader in raw blockchain throughput.

Total Market Capitalization of Solana

• As of April 2025, Solana’s market cap sits at $88.1 billion, placing it firmly in the top 5 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.
• In 2024, Solana’s market cap averaged $45 billion, showing a year-over-year growth of nearly 95%.
• The market cap briefly peaked at $92.6 billion in February 2025 amid a surge in DeFi user activity.
• Solana’s share of the total crypto market capitalization rose from 1.7% in 2024 to 3.3% in 2025.
• Compared to Ethereum’s $350 billion market cap in 2025, Solana now holds 25% of Ethereum’s valuation, up from 12% last year.
• In early 2023, Solana’s market cap dropped below $10 billion, making this recovery one of the most significant in crypto history.
• Institutional investment into Solana-backed ETFs and funds contributed to over $2.5 billion in capital inflows in Q1 2025.
• The average daily trading volume of SOL tokens reached $2.4 billion, a 70% increase from 2024 levels.
• Solana’s fully diluted market cap (FDV) currently exceeds $120 billion, reflecting strong speculative and long-term confidence.

Daily Active Wallets on the Solana Network

• Solana has crossed 2.2 million daily active wallets as of March 2025—a 60% year-over-year growth.
• In 2024, daily wallet activity averaged around 1.3 million, primarily driven by NFT drops and DeFi airdrops.
• A major wallet milestone was recorded on January 18, 2025, with over 2.6 million unique wallets interacting in a single day.
• More than 32 million wallets have interacted with the Solana network at least once as of Q1 2025.
• Phantom, the most popular wallet on Solana, now supports over 15 million monthly active users.
• Daily wallet interactions in GameFi and metaverse apps account for 31% of Solana’s wallet traffic.
• The average number of transactions per wallet has grown from 4.6 (2024) to 6.2 (2025).
• The launch of new Solana-native mobile wallets in Q4 2024 significantly boosted user onboarding rates.
• More than 200,000 new wallets are created on Solana each week, indicating robust organic adoption.

Solana Price Prediction (2025–2031): Future Outlook in Numbers

• In 2025, Solana is expected to see a minimum price of $119.85, with an average price of $265.01 and a maximum price of $293.76.
• By 2026, forecasts suggest prices could rise to a minimum of $287.01, average of $323.32, and peak at $337.14.
• In 2027, Solana may continue its upward momentum with prices ranging between $393.23 and $480.44, with an average around $470.25.
• The year 2028 shows stronger growth potential, with a minimum of $514.11, an average price of $579.57, and a maximum of $605.34.
• Interestingly, 2029 mirrors 2028’s prediction, suggesting a potential plateau at $514.11 (min), $579.57 (avg), and $605.34 (max).
• In 2030, Solana could break new ground with a minimum of $638.84, an average of $716.74, and a maximum price of $723.30.
• By 2031, Solana is forecasted to reach impressive highs, with a minimum of $899.64, an average of $958.84, and a maximum potential of $998.29.

Solana Transaction Speed and Throughput

• Solana continues to deliver an average transaction speed of 400 milliseconds per block confirmation.
• Real-time throughput during peak loads hits up to 65,000 TPS, unmatched by any other major Layer-1 blockchain.
• In 2024, the average TPS was around 48,000—showing a 35% improvement due to validator upgrades.
• Over 250 billion transactions have been processed on the Solana network since its launch.
• During the Rage Trade airdrop event in February 2025, Solana sustained 55,000+ TPS for over 2 hours.
• The median time to finality is under 2 seconds, a critical factor for financial dApps and trading platforms.
• Solana’s architecture allows parallel transaction processing, reducing congestion and wait times.
• In testnet environments, Solana developers have achieved up to 100,000 TPS, though not yet in mainnet conditions.
• More than 90% of transactions are completed in under 500 milliseconds, offering near-instant user feedback.

Average Transaction Fees on Solana

• In Q1 2025, Solana’s average transaction fee remains at just $0.00025, making it one of the cheapest major blockchains.
• Compared to Ethereum’s average fee of $2.93 per transaction, Solana is over 10,000 times cheaper.
• The median fee across all Solana transactions in March 2025 was $0.0002, largely unchanged from last year.
• Despite increasing network activity, fees have remained stable due to Solana’s horizontal scaling model.
• High-throughput dApps like Jupiter and Drift Protocol process thousands of transactions per minute without fee spikes.
• Fee spikes during major NFT minting events in 2024 never exceeded $0.001, a stark contrast to gas wars seen on Ethereum.
• More than 90% of Solana-based DeFi apps allow microtransactions under $1, thanks to negligible network fees.
• Micropayments and real-time rewards in gaming dApps are now feasible due to consistently low transaction costs.
• In a recent survey by Messari, 71% of Solana developers cited “low fees” as the top reason for building on Solana.

Solana Price Predictions for 2025: Insights from Funds & Influencers

• Dami-Defi offers the most bullish outlook, predicting $1,500 for Solana in 2025.
• Borovik and Ansem both estimate a strong $1,000 price point.
• Standard Chartered and Bitwise are aligned in projecting a price of $750.
• Gem Insider anticipates a more modest value of $600.
• VanEck, the most conservative among them, forecasts Solana at $520.

Solana Validator Count and Network Decentralization

• As of March 2025, the Solana network hosts 3,248 active validators, up from 2,064 in early 2024—a 57% increase.
• These validators are spread across over 45 countries, strengthening the geographical decentralization of the network.
• 1,900+ validators are run independently by community participants and DAOs, not by centralized entities.
• Stake distribution has become more balanced: The top 30 validators now control less than 30% of the total stake, down from 44% last year.
• The average stake per validator is currently around 620,000 SOL, compared to 470,000 SOL in 2024.
• To further decentralize, the Solana Foundation launched a “Stake with Purpose” program, incentivizing smaller validators with grants.
• 35% of new validators joined from emerging markets like Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe.
• The number of RPC nodes connected to the Solana network has crossed 17,000, improving global latency and data access.
• A new class of lightweight validators was introduced in late 2024, enabling participation from devices with lower specs.

TVL (Total Value Locked) in Solana-Based DeFi Projects

• Solana’s DeFi TVL has surged to $9.3 billion as of April 2025, nearly doubling from $4.8 billion in early 2024.
• Jupiter, MarginFi, and Drift are the top three Solana DeFi protocols, collectively holding over $4.1 billion in TVL.
• Jito, a Solana liquid staking platform, alone manages over $1.2 billion in locked value.
• Solana is now the third-largest DeFi chain, trailing only Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain.
• More than 15% of all stablecoins on Solana are locked in lending and liquidity protocols.
• Leverage trading volume on Solana-based platforms has increased 180% YoY, contributing to capital inflow.
• Over 400 unique DeFi dApps have launched on Solana since the start of 2024.
• Cross-chain DeFi activity is growing: over $2.3 billion has been bridged from Ethereum and Avalanche to Solana.
• The average APY on Solana lending protocols is 8.3%, with stablecoin pools offering up to 14%.
• DAO-controlled treasuries on Solana hold a combined value of over $700 million, much of it in staking derivatives.

Where Builders Would Go Beyond Solana: Poll Insights from Founders

• Base and Sui are the top choices, each receiving 10 votes out of 41 — showing strong confidence in their ecosystems.
• Monad comes in third with 4 votes, signaling growing interest in its architecture.
• Berachain and those opting to build their own chain each got 3 responses, highlighting a mix of trust in new projects and custom solutions.
• Bitcoin received 2 votes, still seen as a foundational but less flexible option for new projects.
• A range of other blockchains — NEAR, Hyperliquid, Eclipse, Spherenet, Ethereum, Tron, and Atlas — each received 1 vote, reflecting niche interest or emerging ecosystems.

NFT Trading Volume on Solana

• Solana recorded over $1.2 billion in NFT trading volume in Q1 2025, a 30% jump from the previous quarter.
• Tensor and Magic Eden are the two most-used NFT marketplaces, accounting for over 70% of all Solana NFT transactions.
• Solana NFTs consistently outpace Ethereum in daily active users, with more than 320,000 unique users per day.
• The average NFT transaction fee remains under $0.001, promoting higher turnover and low-friction minting.
• Dynamic NFTs (dNFTs)—NFTs that evolve based on user behavior—are gaining momentum in Solana’s gaming sector.
• Over 18 million NFTs were minted on Solana in the first three months of 2025 alone.
• Gaming NFTs now represent 28% of the total Solana NFT market, driven by metaverse titles and GameFi platforms.
• A new royalty enforcement standard, Royale 2.0, has improved creator payouts by 40% compared to 2024.
• The top-selling Solana NFT collection in 2025, “Mutant Foxes”, surpassed $48 million in secondary sales.

Performance of Solana vs Other Layer-1 Blockchains

• Solana processes 65,000 TPS, compared to Ethereum’s 30 TPS, Polygon’s 7,000 TPS, and Avalanche’s 4,500 TPS.

• Average fees per transaction: Solana ($0.00025), Ethereum ($2.93), BNB Chain ($0.13), Polygon ($0.01).
• In Q1 2025, Solana averaged 2.2 million daily active wallets, while Ethereum had 430,000 and Avalanche had 190,000.
• Solana has the lowest time to finality, with transactions confirmed in under 2 seconds, compared to Ethereum’s 13 seconds.
• The developer count on Solana grew by 42% YoY, overtaking BNB Chain and approaching parity with Ethereum.
• Solana’s TVL of $9.3 billion is higher than Polygon’s ($5.7B) and Avalanche’s ($6.4B) as of April 2025.
• The NFT transaction volume on Solana is 3x higher than Polygon and nearly matches Ethereum’s weekly volumes.
• Energy usage per transaction on Solana is 2,707 joules versus 707,000 joules for Ethereum—making Solana 260x more efficient.
• Solana’s uptime reached 99.99% in 2025 YTD, significantly better than its previous track record and outperforming nearly all L1s.

Growth of Solana-Based dApps and Ecosystem

• As of Q1 2025, over 2,100 dApps are active on Solana, up from 1,360 a year earlier—a 54% increase.
• The most popular categories include DeFi (32%), NFTs (27%), and GameFi (21%).
• Solana’s ecosystem supports 8,400+ smart contracts, deployed and verified on-chain.
• Jupiter, a Solana-native DEX aggregator, now processes over $700 million daily in swaps, up from $140M in early 2024.
• New social dApps like Dialect and Solcial have gained over 650,000 monthly users, tapping into Web3-native messaging.
• Helium Mobile, now powered by Solana, provides blockchain-backed cellular service in over 20 US cities.
• Over 300 new projects were funded through the Solana Foundation’s Grants and Ecosystem Fund in the last year.
• Solana Mobile’s Saga 2.0 device saw 28,000 units shipped in Q1 2025, fueling a new wave of mobile-native apps.
• The Solana Play Store now hosts 500+ mobile-first dApps, a 2x increase since Q4 2024.
• Cross-chain tools such as Wormhole and LayerZero enabled $6.1 billion in asset bridging to and from Solana in Q1 alone.

Solana’s Energy Efficiency Metrics

• Solana consumes an estimated 2,707 joules per transaction, versus Ethereum’s 707,000 joules—a 260x advantage in energy efficiency.
• The network’s annual energy consumption is roughly 1.9 GWh, about the same as 190 average US homes—an ultra-low footprint for a global network.
• Compared to Bitcoin, Solana is 99.98% more energy efficient per transaction processed.
• Solana’s validator program includes green incentives: over 100 validators have joined eco-certified node hosting centers.
• In 2025, Solana Foundation launched a carbon offset partnership with EnergyWeb, covering 100% of its on-chain emissions.
• New light-client integrations have lowered resource requirements by 30%, further reducing energy use.
• The average Solana node consumes 0.2 kWh/day thanks to improvements in runtime efficiency and state compression.
• Developers building green dApps are now eligible for energy-conscious grants and support for Web3 environmentalism.
• NFT minting on Solana has reduced energy costs by 94% compared to 2022 levels, using compressed NFTs and optimized runtimes.

Solana Price Forecast Summary (2024–2030)

• 2024: Predicted at $50 (Conservative) and $60 (Optimistic).
• 2025: Expected to rise to $80 (Conservative) and $150 (Optimistic).
• 2030: Forecasted to hit $300 (Conservative) and $500 (Optimistic).

Institutional and Developer Adoption Rates

• As of April 2025, over 450 institutions are either directly investing in SOL or supporting Solana-based projects.
• BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, and Grayscale have introduced Solana-focused funds or allocations.
• Developer participation on Solana has grown to 15,600 active monthly devs, up from 11,000 in Q1 2024.
• Hackathons hosted by the Solana Foundation in 2024-25 have awarded over $10 million in prizes and startup grants.
• A surge in academic partnerships: Solana now collaborates with Stanford, MIT, and the University of Zurich on blockchain R&D.
• GitHub commits related to Solana projects increased 46% YoY, reflecting a surge in active open-source development.
• Jump Crypto, Circle, and Visa continue to build on Solana infrastructure, citing speed and stability.
• Multichain institutions like Coinbase Cloud and Fireblocks now support Solana staking and custody with advanced tools.
• More than 35% of new developers entering Web3 in 2025 cited Solana as their first blockchain platform.

Solana Price Trends and Volatility

• Solana (SOL) began 2025 at $92.40 and is trading at $118.65 in early April—a 28% YTD increase.
• In 2024, SOL surged by over 340%, climbing from $9.80 in January 2024 to $94.70 by year’s end.
• Volatility remains moderate: Solana’s 30-day price volatility index averages 0.39, compared to 0.61 for Ethereum.
• SOL’s all-time high of $259.35 (from November 2021) remains unbroken, though analysts suggest a potential retest in 2025.
• The average daily trading volume in Q1 2025 was $2.9 billion, up from $1.1 billion in early 2024.
• The Sharpe ratio for SOL stands at 1.87, indicating a relatively high return for its risk level among top assets.
• Solana’s correlation with Bitcoin has dropped to 0.62, reflecting increased independent price action based on ecosystem strength.
• SOL has outperformed Ethereum (18% YTD) and BNB (7% YTD) in 2025 on both returns and volume growth.
• Major catalysts for SOL’s rise include new staking integrations, the ETF buzz, and high-profile gaming launches.

Active Validators Across Major Blockchain Networks

• Solana leads with the highest number of active validators, 1,875, showcasing its strong decentralization.
• Avalanche ranks second with 1,297 validators, reinforcing its growing network participation.
• Polkadot maintains 297 validators, highlighting a moderate validator set.
• Cosmos has 175 active validators supporting its interoperable blockchain ecosystem.
• NEAR Protocol and Matic (Polygon) follow closely with 100 and 98 validators, respectively.
• Fantom operates with 71 validators, reflecting a smaller but active network.
• Binance Smart Chain (BSC) has the lowest count with just 21 validators, indicating higher centralization.

Recent Developments and Upgrades in the Solana Network

• Solana launched Firedancer v1.0 testnet in Q1 2025, delivering 3x faster block production and increased stability.
• Token Extensions (new SPL features) went live, enabling confidential transfers, transfer fees, and composable ownership.
• The Solana Improvement Proposal (SIP-64) introduced a new fee market, offering dynamic pricing and congestion control.
• Blazepoint, a performance monitoring dashboard, was released in partnership with Jump Crypto to improve node operator transparency.
• The Solana Foundation allocated $50 million to a new AI + Blockchain innovation fund, targeting consumer AI apps on-chain.
• Mobile Stack SDK 2.0 was launched for Android and iOS, improving developer access to native Solana features on smartphones.
• Zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) support is now available via third-party libraries, expanding Solana’s potential in privacy-preserving apps.
• The Solana x Shopify plugin went live in Q1 2025, enabling thousands of merchants to accept SOL payments directly.
• Solana’s 2025 roadmap includes the mainnet deployment of Firedancer, a new governance framework for DAO tooling, and deeper cross-chain integrations.

Conclusion

From market cap momentum to decentralized speed and NFT dominance, Solana is redefining what it means to scale blockchain. In 2025, it stands not just as a fast alternative but as a frontrunner in shaping Web3’s next decade. With breakthroughs like Firedancer, token extensions, and eco-forward upgrades, Solana is turning complexity into usability—and turning heads across the crypto landscape.

Whether you’re a developer, investor, or curious onlooker, the Solana ecosystem in 2025 offers one key message: speed is just the beginning.