Solana's decentralized exchanges (DEXes) have reached a historic milestone, with a monthly trading volume of $70.9 billion, according to DeFiLlama. This surge in activity is driven by a growing wave of memecoin enthusiasm in the crypto space.
A Surge in Trading Activity
Solana's decentralized finance (DeFi) sector has experienced explosive growth, with weekly trading volumes reaching an impressive $41.39 billion. This marks a significant increase from October 29 to November 3, when volumes were $18.1 billion. Trading activity peaked on November 12, with daily volumes at $6.88 billion. Since then, Solana's DEX volume has consistently exceeded $5.7 billion daily, significantly outpacing Ethereum's DEX ecosystem. Over the same period, Ethereum’s decentralized exchanges processed $14.27 billion in trades, far below Solana’s numbers.
Raydium Leads the Charge
At the heart of this surge is Raydium, Solana’s leading decentralized exchange. The platform is responsible for 69% of Solana's total DEX trading volume, with an impressive $27 billion in weekly trades—an increase of 127% from the previous period. Raydium's growth has been closely linked to the success of PumpFun, Solana’s memecoin launchpad, which has propelled tokens like PNUT and GOAT to prominence.
Memecoin Mania Fuels Growth
The memecoin trend is not limited to Raydium. Orca, another Solana-based DEX, saw a massive 169% increase in its weekly trading volume, reaching $7.5 billion. Other exchanges like Lfinity surpassed $3 billion in weekly volumes. These memecoins have become major players in the market, with their pairings ranking third and fourth in Raydium’s 24-hour trading volumes. PNUT and GOAT have generated $48.6 million and $47.2 million in daily volume, respectively, reflecting the growing appetite for memecoins in the Solana ecosystem.
The boom in Solana’s DEX activity comes at a time of major price action for the native SOL token, which has surged to a price of $242, nearing its all-time high of $259. This rise in the price of SOL, coupled with the strong performance of its DEXes, has propelled Solana’s market capitalization to $115 billion—44% higher than its previous all-time high of $77 billion in November 2021.
