Solana’s native token, SOL, faced a sharp rejection of 8% after briefly reaching $147 on March 25. Over the last few weeks, SOL has struggled to reclaim the crucial $150 level, leading traders to speculate whether the original bullish momentum—boosted by memecoin fervor and advancements in artificial intelligence—has dissipated.
Experts believe SOL may receive a significant boost from the prospective approval of a Solana spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States, combined with the expansion of tokenized real-world assets (RWA) on the Solana network, including stablecoins and money market funds.
Additionally, Nikita Bier, co-founder of TBH and Gas startups, argues that Solana possesses the essential building blocks to excel in mobile applications.
Source: nikitabier
Bier emphasized the favorable regulatory landscape fostered by U.S. President Donald Trump, alongside the long-lasting effects of the memecoin surge that has attracted millions of new users to Web3 wallets and decentralized applications (DApps). He notes that Solana is well-positioned due to its user-friendly onboarding process for mobile users.
Impact of Bitcoin Reserve Announcement on the Market
Despite the optimistic outlook for establishing a consumer-friendly marketplace for DApps, the overall market has faced setbacks, including losses for traders as interest in memecoins declined and on-chain transaction volumes fell. This downturn has left investors questioning whether SOL can regain its footing above the $150 mark. Moreover, growing competition from other blockchain networks presents an additional challenge.
The U.S. government’s decision not to include altcoins in its strategic reserve and digital asset holdings came as a disappointment for many in the market. On March 6, Trump signed a bill permitting budget-neutral strategies for the U.S. Treasury to acquire Bitcoin, but stated that altcoins, including Solana, might be strategically liquidated.
While some may argue that the Solana ecosystem transcends mere memecoin trading, with total value locked (TVL) increasing in areas such as liquid staking and yield platforms, the decline in transaction fees and DApp revenues remains concerning. Reduced on-chain activity diminishes SOL’s allure, thereby capping its upside potential.
Solana 7-day DApp revenues (left) and chain fees (right), USD. Source: DefiLlama
In the week leading up to March 24, Solana DApp revenues fell to $12 million from $23.7 million in just two weeks, and base layer fees dropped to $3.6 million from $6.6 million. Interestingly, this drop occurred while the total value locked remained stable at 53.2 million SOL.
Solana’s DEX Volume Decline: A Cause for Concern
The decline in Solana’s on-chain activity is particularly alarming, especially as BNB Chain recently reclaimed the top spot in DEX volumes, despite having 34% less TVL than Solana, according to DefiLlama data.
Decentralized exchanges volume market share. Source: DefiLlama
Once a dominant force in the DEX landscape from October 2024 to February 2025, Solana has recently lost ground to both Ethereum and BNB Chain. The weakening demand for DApps has significantly influenced SOL’s price performance; in contrast, trading volumes have surged on platforms like Hyperliquid and Pendle.
Although current fundamental indicators do not suggest an imminent breakthrough above $150, Solana’s network retains a unique combination of integrated user experiences and decentralization—a formula that has historically yielded success. While competitors like BNB Chain and Tron offer similar scalability, they lack the strong user adoption seen with Solana’s Phantom Wallet, which ranked among the top 10 apps on the Apple App Store in November 2024.
This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.
