Robinhood expanding Solana support to Europe, VanEck launching the first European SOL ETN with staking rewards, and Solana dominating NFT activity with 33% of all blockchain transactions.
TL;DR
- SOL price up 10%, market cap nears $80B and 7M daily active addresses
- DeFi ecosystem strong at $6B+ TVL, led by Jito ($2.24B) and Raydium ($1.8B)
- Sentient AI meme coin GOAT surged 231.7%, while other DeFi tokens showed double-digit gains
- Robinhood expanded Solana to EU, while VanEck launched first European SOL ETN
- Solana dominates NFT space with 33% of all blockchain activity, ahead of Ethereum and Bitcoin
Overview
It’s been another super-bully week for Solana and its exciting ecosystem, and we're not (only) talking about meme coins. SOL’s decentralized finance (DeFi) sector is now comfortably the third-biggest in all of crypto and closing in on Tron’s $6.9 billion tally with a TVL of $6.3B, with another 10% jump in the books this week. The network’s unique active wallet count is now close to hitting a crazy milestone of seven million. As a result, this growing adoption is reflected in the price of SOL. Let’s take a closer look.
Solana by Numbers the Last 7 Days
Between Oct. 16 and 22, Solana's price traded sideways before dipping on Oct. 18. The price recovered on Oct. 19, climbing from $148.04 to $168.23 on Oct. 22. Overall, Solana gained 9.71% in the past week.
Solana's seven-day gain was miles ahead of its non-stablecoin competitors in the top ten, other than Dogecoin.
- Price: $167.97, up 9.71%
- Market cap: $78.9 billion
- DeFi TVL: $6.43 billion
- Daily active addresses: >6.9 million
- 24h trading volume: $3.53 billion
How Did Solana Stack Up Against Its Competitors?
Solana’s total volume locked (TVL) held above $6 billion while the daily active addresses are closing in on a crazy seven million, leaving its layer-1 competitors in the dust.
Solana Ecosystem the Last Week
Solana had a modest performance this week, with the usual suspects—meme coins like PopCat and MEW—leading the ecosystem's gains.
However, it’s been a big week for Solana DeFi. Raydium, Jupiter and Helium stole the show with double-digit gains. Is Solana DeFi summer here?
Top Gainers:
- Helium (HNT): +17.72%
- cat in a dogs world (MEW): +15.52%
- Jupiter (JUP): +13.35%
Top Losers:
- Arweave (AR): -6.52%
- Render (RENDER): -5.33%
- dogwifhat (WIF): -5.2%
Solana DeFi
Solana's DeFi ecosystem has crossed a robust $6 billion TVL for the first time in three years, with the network generating $1.33 million in fees over the past 24 hours.
Jito leads the protocols within the Solana ecosystem with $2.24 billion TVL, followed by Raydium at $1.80 billion.
The top seven protocols show strong monthly performance, all posting double-digit gains ranging from 13.45% to 89.37%, with Raydium being the standout performer.
This suggests sustained user engagement and capital inflow into the Solana DeFi space.
I had a great chat with Cindy Leow, Drift Protocol co-founder this week, who said the following about prediction markets and the ability of whales to manipulate them:
“No one gets free margin. If you wanted to push the prices up, it's like proof of capital. So in that sense, you can't always trust the election prediction markets, but it's more honest than manipulating polls because it involves putting money in and making sure everyone is subject to the same rules—putting your money where your mouth is”.
On that note, Drift is also doing pretty well post-Breakpoint…one to watch!
Solana Meme Coins
Solana meme coin season continues.
- “Sentient AI” meme token Goatseus Maximus keeps going up with a 231.7% gain, while Gigachad surged 60% this week.
- Popcat again hits double-digit weekly growth.
- Despite Bonk and Cat in a Dog's World showing some short-term weakness, both tokens are up over the week, 3.9% and 7.0% respectively.
- Book of Meme (BOME) and Dogwifhat (WIF) are the only tokens in the red this week, with WIF, the sector leader by market cap, experiencing the steeper decline of the two.
- The meme sector's overall weekly performance demonstrates a strong risk appetite among traders.
Solana DePIN
- According to DePINScan, Server and AI projects dominated the space this week, with Render (RNDR) leading by market cap at $2B, while io.net shows strong trading momentum with over $103M in 24-hour volume.
NFTs
Solana dominates daily user charts in the NFT segment, accounting for 33% of all blockchain activity. Base and Polygon follow at a distance, despite their recent growth.
Weekly numbers reinforce Solana's position at the top. While Ethereum and Bitcoin compete for second place, Solana's user base continues to expand well ahead of both networks.
The yearly view cements Solana's remarkable growth story. With nearly 40% of all chain activity, it's establishing itself as the blockchain of choice for active NFT users.
Top 5 Solana News Stories
Robinhood Expands Solana Support in EU, Offers Attractive Rewards
Robinhood Crypto has added Solana transfers to its EU platform, along with a 1% deposit bonus promotion running through November 2024. The expansion builds on their recent crypto rollout in the EU, which has gained significant traction, particularly in Poland, Italy and Lithuania.
Robinhood now offers in-app Solana staking at 5.23% APY, allowing users to earn passive income while supporting the network.
Realms Protocol Gets New Leadership in Strategic Spinoff
Solana's governance platform Realms has spun out from Solana Labs, now operating under Realms Today Trust with Sebastian Bor, a Solana Labs DAO engineer, at the helm.
The platform, which serves as the backbone for Solana's DAOs and treasury management, is pivoting toward a profit-driven model while maintaining its essential role in the ecosystem.
Pump.fun Cashes Out $6.7M in Solana, SOL Shrugs it Off
The leading Solana meme token launchpad Pump.fun sold 40,000 SOL ($6.68M) this week, adding to its impressive $162M total revenue from fees. SOL barely flinched at the selling pressure, bouncing back like a champ as it gained more than 9% in the past week.
Meanwhile, the platform is expanding its offerings with a new trading bot and "Pump Advanced" terminal, while hinting at a potential token launch with airdrops for users.
VanEck's SOL ETN Pioneers Staking Rewards in Europe
In a market first, VanEck has integrated automatic staking rewards into its Solana ETN (VSOL) traded on Deutsche Börse. VanEck manages liquidity and maintains non-custodial security.
The investment management firm will take a 25% fee from investors’ staking rewards for providing the service.
What You Can Do Now
- Monitor if Robinhood’s Solana support in the EU injects liquidity.
- Watch closely how Realms’ new sheriff drives the governance platform forward.
- Track Pump.fun’s wallet movements as it still holds $47 million in Solana.
- Enjoy the show as VanEck adds Solana staking services in Europe.
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