After a standout 2024 fueled by memecoin mania and retail-driven activity, 2025 has marked a more transitional phase for Solana. On the surface, momentum appears to be cooling amid rising competition from chains like Base, Sui, and Sei. But beneath that, Solana is quietly evolving, gaining traction in tokenized assets, stablecoins, and consumer-facing dApps supported by hardware distribution. Metrics like non-vote transactions combined with active addresses suggest the early signs of a broader, more durable shift in user behavior and ecosystem structure.

Performance and momentum

After a strong resurgence in 2024, 2025 is shaping up to look quite different for Solana, at least on the surface. Some of the key narratives that drove last year’s momentum, such as the memecoin boom and dominance in retail trading, have begun to cool, while competition is heating up. Newcomers like Base are gaining traction, and alt-L1s like Sui and Sei are ramping up ecosystem activity.

As a result, Solana has underperformed the broader Layer 1 cohort for much of the year. In the exhibit below, we compare Solana’s year-to-date performance (14d rolling) with the equal-weighted price performance of 127 Layer 1 tokens. After a period of outperformance in January, Solana lagged behind for a significant stretch of the year. However, with the start of H2, momentum appears to be shifting once again. Solana is regaining top-tier mindshare, driven by renewed narratives around tokenization, corporate treasury adoption, stablecoin adoption, record-high throughput (~1.4k TPS), and the launch of the Seeker mobile phone, now shipping to over 50 countries.

Looking at momentum, a similar pattern emerges. Solana's momentum finally turned positive in the second half of the year, outpacing that of the broader Layer 1 cohort. While Solana’s recent momentum isn’t as strong as it was earlier in the year, when it dominated most of the market’s attention, it’s still picking up again. The difference now is that headlines and interest are more evenly spread across other chains too. Back in late-2024, Solana stood out because it was clearly leading the pack. That’s not as true today, but there are still signs of strength building quietly in the background.

A commonly cited and intuitive data point that helps explain why Solana topped in early 2025 is its monthly active user count. As shown below, Solana reached its peak both on a relative basis, compared to the top six blockchains by monthly active addresses, and on an absolute basis around the same time.

Much of that spike seems to be explainable by Raydium, which became the primary venue for Solana’s memecoin trading boom. In early 2025, retail-driven speculation around new tokens—launched predominantly via Pump.fun, flooded Raydium with unprecedented volumes. Solana’s technical advantages (low fees, fast settlement) enabled this activity, but it was retail FOMO that truly drove it. 

At its peak, Solana captured around 95% of all memecoin trading volume, with Raydium as the main liquidity hub. But by late February, activity began to drop as rumors spread that Pump.fun was launching its own AMM. Combined with cooling retail interest and the rise of Let’sBonk, usage on both Raydium fell sharply. The below shows how this translated into the number of monthly active addresses.

Despite Raydium, the main driver of Solana’s on-chain activity less than a year ago, now pulling back, broader ecosystem metrics like monthly active addresses have rebounded, signaling a shift in user behavior. 

Solana is increasingly diversifying beyond memecoins, not just through tokenized stocks, but also via growing activity in DeFi, AI, DePIN, payments, NFTs, and gaming. 

Tokenized stocks have emerged as one of the standout narratives, supported by favorable U.S. regulation and fintech interest, with platforms like Kraken, Bybit, and Backed Finance launching xStocks on Solana due to its high throughput and low costs. 

At the same time, the network is shipping 150,000 Seeker phones with a native dApp store, reinforcing its push into consumer-facing applications. The composition of Solana’s user base is clearly evolving, with early signs of a more durable and diversified ecosystem taking shape.

One metric that may be capturing this shift is the number of non-vote transactions, which recently hit all-time highs. By excluding validator activity, it more accurately reflects real user engagement, supporting the view that Solana’s growth is becoming broader and more application-driven.

While the surge in non-vote transactions is notable on its own, it becomes even more informative when viewed through the lens of non-vote transactions per daily active user. This metric captures not just how many users are on-chain, but how intensively they’re engaging. 

Before the memecoin boom, the ratio was extremely high, reflecting a smaller but highly active (automated or not) user base deeply interacting with Solana-native apps. When Raydium activity spiked, monthly active addresses numbers exploded, but average engagement dropped, as many new participants were single-purpose traders or bots. This caused the ratio to compress sharply.

Interestingly, the ratio has been gradually climbing again, but it remains well below pre-Raydium highs. This suggests that while user intensity hasn't fully rebounded, many of those onboarded during the memecoin frenzy have stayed, even if they're interacting less frequently. 

Rather than a temporary spike followed by a full reversion, the data shows a structural shift: the memecoin boom acted as a powerful onboarding funnel, expanding Solana’s user base. And that broader base is now proving valuable as Solana pivots into new narratives like tokenized assets, consumer devices, and real-world utility, areas that benefit from a wider, more diverse audience rather than a small pool of power users.

A deeper dive for next time would be to look at which protocols these non-vote transactions are actually interacting with. That would help show how wallet behavior is changing and give more insight into how users are really using the Solana ecosystem.