Solana, the upstart blockchain, has pulled off a stunner. It's beaten Ethereum in weekly fees for the first time ever.
The numbers are eye-popping. Solana raked in about $25 million in the week of July 22. Ethereum? A mere $21 million.
This isn't just a fluke. Solana's been on fire in 2024. Celebrity coin trading has gone bonkers on its memecoin platforms. Pump.fun and Moonshot are the hot spots.
Memecoins are no joke anymore. They've hit a whopping $50 billion in total market cap.
Solana's total value locked (TVL) has exploded. It's now around $5.5 billion. That's more than triple since the year kicked off.
July 28 was a banner day. Solana hit $5.5 million in daily fees. It's the highest in three months.
Where's all this cash coming from? Dan Smith, a data whiz at Blockworks, breaks it down. 58% is from MEV tips. 37% comes from priority transaction fees.
"Solana validators and stakers are absolutely eating this cycle," Smith said. No kidding.
Staking on Solana is paying off big time. 21.co's data shows cumulative rewards topping $32 million. Current yields? A juicy 7%.
Ethereum's still the big dog in TVL. It's got nearly $60 billion locked up. And it's home to 1,135 protocols.
But there's a dark side to Solana's celeb coin craze. Most tokens have tanked by over 99%. Even the "winners" are down more than 70%.
Cryptocurrency analyst Slorg didn't mince words: "Exactly half are down over 99%, with 7 others being down more than 90%. Let me remind you this is only about a month into their lifespan."