Efe Nail Saltık 
Solana has surged ahead of Ethereum in decentralized exchange (DEX) volume, fueled by the frenzy surrounding meme coins and its superior capital efficiency compared to Ethereum.
Over the past week, Solana-based DEXes have seen more activity than their Ethereum counterparts, with the meme coin craze driving up volumes on Solana. According to DeFiLlama data, trading volume on Solana-based DEXes surged 67% to $21.3 billion in seven days, while Ethereum-based DEXes saw a more modest 3% increase to $19.4 billion. Solana, now the leading smart-contract blockchain by trading volume, hosts 17 DEXes, with Orca dominating with 88% of the total volume, compared to Ethereum’s 46 DEXes led by Uniswap.
The shift in dominance has been attributed to speculative fervor in Solana-based meme coins like dogwifwhat, bonk, book of meme, and slerf. The trend is evident in the top trending tokens on the DEX Screener, which are predominantly from Solana. The speculative frenzy reached such heights that 2,300 meme coins were created in a single hour on March 13, and the supply of stablecoins on Solana hit a multiyear high of $2.80 billion.
Reflexivity Research attributes Solana’s volume surge to initiatives like points programs and airdrops such as the Solana DEX Jupiter, which gained momentum in the fourth quarter of 2023. Moreover, Solana boasts higher capital efficiency compared to Ethereum and other smart-contract blockchains. This efficiency is reflected in the DEX volume-to-total value locked (TVL) ratio, which indicates that Solana can support higher trading volumes with a lower dollar value of assets locked in its DeFi ecosystem.
Reflexivity Research’s recent report, commissioned by the Solana Foundation, underscores Solana’s significant outpacing of Ethereum in terms of operational efficiency within its ecosystem.