Key Highlights
- Solana’s active addresses dropped from 9M to 3.3M, showing reduced network use as memecoin hype fades and traders lose interest.
- Ongoing token unlocks, inflation, and lack of key trading platforms have fueled caution, slowing short-term price recovery on Solana.
- Despite the slowdown, Solana holds 18.8% of Layer-1 user activity, while treasury-linked companies face steep valuation drops, reflecting broader ecosystem weakness.
As active users on its network reach a one-year low, Solana is facing significant challenges. Data reveals that active addresses on Solana have fallen to 3.3 million from over 9 million in January. The drop suggests fewer people are using the network for transactions or trading. Much of the slowdown appears to be linked to declining interest in memecoins, which earlier had been responsible for high activity on Solana.
By the end of 2024, Solana had become the go-to blockchain for memecoin launches and trades due to its fast and low-cost transactions. In 2025, however, it has gradually been losing steam as the hype for memecoins fizzled out. The shift in trend is an example of how quickly things take a turn in crypto and also how some networks are overdependent on one form of utilization.
Market struggles and investor criticism
According to analyst Rex Capital’s post on X, a few key issues are the basis for Solana’s recent problems. He wrote, “Solana is failing for a few reasons. 1) failure to reduce inflation 2) size of the ongoing unlocks exacerbated by the refusal to reduce inflation 3) 99.9% of people got burned on memes (not me obviously) 4) no popular perp DEX, got f*cked by Hyperliquid 5) no prediction market took off on the network 6) failed to become the destination chain for stablecoin liquidity.”
His comments are a reflection of those frustrations felt by many a trader and developer lately. Without popular perpetual trading platforms or prediction markets, Solana has fallen behind. Continuous token unlocks and rising inflation have also made investors more conservative, which slows down any short-term price recoveries.
Solana still holds a strong market position
Despite the decline, Solana remains in a strong position in Layer-1. According to Token Terminal, there are 44.1 million monthly active addresses, hence making Solana have 18.8% of the total user activity across blockchains. The number of active users on BNB Chain leads with 55.7 million, followed by the NEAR Protocol with 40.9 million. Others include Tron with 21.3M, Aptos with 18.7M, and Sei Network with 12.8M.
More established networks like Bitcoin, Polygon, and Ethereum still bring in consistent users, though these are behind more modern high-activity ecosystems. As such, Solana remains one of the top performers in terms of user base, even in the context of this slowdown.
ETF inflows and market sentiment
According to Sosovalue data, the net inflow of Solana’s ETF received $18.06 million, pushing its net asset value to $574.42 million. Meanwhile, the SOL price remained stable at $153.75, indicating investor confidence despite slower inflows.
ETF inflows peaked above $70 million between late October and early November, particularly on October 28 and November 3. Since then, activity has cooled, showing smaller daily volumes. Yet, the total ETF assets continue to rise, indicating continued accumulation even as short-term sentiment softens.
Treasury stocks under pressure
Analyst Ted highlighted declining valuations in Solana-linked treasury companies. In an X post, he said, “I thought the $SOL chart was looking bad. But then I saw the chart of Solana Treasury companies.” He described the situation as an endless dump with no buyers or even a dead cat bounce.
In his chart analysis, he highlights the heavy declines in firms such as Sol Strategies Inc., which fell from C$55 to C$4.24, and DeFi Development Corp., which dropped from $70 to $8.33. These moves mirror broader weakness in Solana’s corporate ecosystem and reduced market confidence.
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