Solana's recent surge of 36.6% in value between October 30 and November 2 faced a 10% correction on November 6, causing investors to question whether the ecosystem's growth and network activity align with its $16.9 billion market capitalization.

The peak of $44.50 on November 2 coincided with the Solana Breakpoint 2023 conference, leading BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes to invest in SOL. During the conference, the Solana Foundation introduced Firedancer, a new client focused on improving speed and reliability for validators, addressing a longstanding concern of the layer-1 blockchain.

Additionally, Solana Foundation made its network dataset available on Google Cloud BigQuery, providing access to archival data and analytical insights. The development side has seen consistent activity, including the v.1.16 update's approval introducing confidential transactions using zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs.

However, not all news has been favorable for Solana. The decentralized liquid staking protocol, Lido Finance, ceased operations on the network due to financial issues and low fees.

The key question is whether on-chain activity and decentralized applications (DApps) metrics support Solana's price increase, comparing it to its competitors. Solana's total value locked (TVL) reached its lowest point in over two years, and DApp deposits declined by 30% in 30 days.

While Solana offers low fees and development, it hasn't attracted a significant number of active users compared to competitors. The largest DEX, Raydium, had only 17,380 active addresses in the past month. Similarly, Solana's most-used game, Star Atlas, had 12,420 unique addresses.

In contrast, BNB Chain and Avalanche had more active users and higher DApps volume. Concerns have also arisen regarding validator centralization and dissatisfaction among token holders regarding development subsidies and the relatively small DApps user base. Overall, Solana's on-chain activity doesn't align with its recent price surge.