Key Takeaway
Solana has surpassed Binance Smart Chain (BNB) to become the fourth-largest blockchain, driven by growth across key metrics:
- Market Capitalization: $115 billion, exceeding BNB’s $92 billion.
- Active Wallets: 6.5 million, up 1,467% since 2023, while BNB grew just 37% to 957,418.
- Total Value Locked (TVL): $7.399 billion, growing 3,477% since 2023, compared to BNB’s modest $5.27 billion (+11%).
- Daily Trading Volume: $10 billion, more than three times BNB’s $3 billion.
Source: DeFillama, Artemis
With Solana dominating trading volume, TVL, and user growth, its rise marks a shift in Layer-1 competition. Here’s a closer look at how this unfolded.
Looking Back…
At the height of the last bull cycle, on November 10th, 2021, when Bitcoin hit its all-time high of $69,000, and BTC, ETH, and BNB leading the market. Fast forward to today, as a new bull cycle begins, Solana has surged to replace BNB in the rankings.
Currently, Solana holds the fourth-largest coin position with a market cap of $115 billion, surpassing BNB, now fifth at $90 billion.
Source: Coingecko
Zooming in on the on-chain metrics, Solana has decisively outpaced BNB in nearly every category.
Throughout 2024, Solana and BNB’s circulating market caps followed similar trends, with Solana typically trailing slightly behind. However, key moments—especially in March and July—saw Solana temporarily overtake BNB.
In the last two months, Solana has broken through, solidifying its lead and showing sustained growth.
What gained the most since the start of 2023?
As of this post, Solana’s price is $215, compared to BNB’s $620. From the benchmark of January 1, 2023, when SOL traded at $9.97 and BNB at $244, Solana has delivered unparalleled returns.
- Solana’s peak gain: 2,132% on November 11, 2024.
- BNB’s peak gain: 190% on June 6, 2024.
Solana’s Trading Volume Outpaces BNB’s
Since early 2024, Solana has consistently surpassed BNB in monthly trading volumes, with November 2024 figures at $121.8B for Solana compared to $27.9B for BNB. While BNB dominated much of the bear market between 2021 and 2023, Solana’s trading volume surged in 2024, peaking at $192.1B in March. BNB’s volumes have remained comparatively steady but flat, while Solana has captured market momentum in a recovering market.
Solana’s growth in active user wallets
At the start of 2023, Solana had 416,103 active wallets, compared to BNB’s 697,449. Today, Solana boasts an impressive 6,524,006 active wallets—a 1,467.88% increase. By contrast, BNB’s wallet growth has been modest, increasing by only 37% to 957,418.
This user adoption directly contributes to Solana’s TVL surpassing BNB’s.
On November 9, 2021, Solana’s TVL peaked at $10 billion, while BNB’s was $15.9 billion—60% higher than Solana’s. Today, the tables have turned:
- Solana’s TVL: $8 billion.
- BNB’s TVL: $5.27 billion.
Since the start of 2023, Solana’s TVL has grown an astonishing 3,477%, while BNB has increased by only 11%.
So what’s driving Solana’s growth, and why isn’t BNB catching up?
2023 marked a turning point for Solana as memecoins like BONK ignited a cultural and economic surge. Launched in late 2022 with a community-driven airdrop, BONK catalyzed engagement and cemented Solana as the hub for memecoin activity.
Building on its momentum, tokens like WIF, POPCAT, and GOAT flourished, powered by platforms like Pump Fun and BONKbot, which leveraged Solana’s high-speed, low-cost infrastructure.
The impact is evident in the numbers: active addresses on Solana surged from 416,103 to over 6.5 million, and daily transactions topped 45 million—both metrics outpacing BNB by a wide margin.
With crypto influencers Like Ansem (@blknoiz06 – 563k followers) and Murad (@MustStopMurad – 472k followers) leading the charge of promoting Solana memecoins across social media, Solana has become an undeniable force, capturing the mindshare of traders and making itself a must-visit chain for anyone looking to trade memecoins and tap into the next big opportunity.
Meanwhile BNB has been focused on delivering their 2024 outlook which is summarised in the following image.
Source: https://www.bnbchain.org/en/blog/bnb-chain-2024-outlook
BNB released its 2024 roadmap on January 31, detailing plans for BNB Smart Chain, BNB Greenfield, and opBNB. BNB Smart Chain updates include the Fusion upgrade, validator expansion to 100, delegate voting, proposer-builder separation for MEV, and a parallelized EVM. opBNB achieved 10,000 TPS and implemented BEP-336, with plans for ZK fault proofs and a shared sequencer set. BNB Greenfield will incorporate permanent storage and function as a data availability layer.
BNB Ecosystem Overview
BNB Smart Chain’s total DeFi TVL reached US$5.269 billion as of November 18, 2024, ranking it as the fourth-largest chain by TVL. The top BNB Smart Chain projects by TVL include Venus Protocol at $1.86 billion and PancakeSwap at $1.64 billion. Together, these protocols accounted for 71% of the chain’s TVL. Avalon Finance saw significant growth, with $430.3 million in TVL. ListaDAO, focused on stablecoin lending and liquid staking, reported $609 million in TVL, while PinkSale, a token launchpad protocol, reached $179.2 million. UNCX Network, a DeFi infrastructure protocol, held $180.0 million in TVL.
Liquid staking emerged as a key focus, with ListaDAO leading in this category, recording 406,200 BNB staked ($234.4 million). YieldNest introduced a restaking mechanism with ynBNB in Q3.
Leading DEXs include PancakeSwap, which led with $1.088 billion in average daily trading volumes, followed by DODO at $74.33 million, THENA at $47.3 million, and Uniswap at $48.12 million. The Trading Volume Incentive Program allocated $200,000 to top-performing protocols, including PancakeSwap, THENA, and KiloEx.
User-Centric Innovations vs. Ecosystem Reconstruction
The story of 2024 is defined by Solana’s embrace of memecoin and trader culture, contrasting sharply with BNB efforts to address the infrastructure limitations exposed in the last cycle.
Solana’s strategy centers on capturing user engagement by prioritizing seamless experiences and fostering community-driven growth. By leveraging memecoins as a gateway to onboard users, Solana has built an ecosystem where innovation aligns directly with market demand.
In contrast, BNB has shifted its focus to foundational upgrades aimed at addressing scalability and security gaps. Initiatives such as validator expansion and EVM optimization reflect a commitment to long-term resilience but lack the immediacy needed to drive user engagement. BNB’s strategy reflects a blockchain building for future demands but losing momentum in the present.
Summary: Solana’s Ascension
The crypto landscape has undergone a seismic shift since the 2021 bull cycle, with Solana surpassing Binance Smart Chain (BNB) to claim the fourth spot in market capitalization. Solana’s growth is underscored by its dominance in key metrics:
- Market Cap: $115 billion, exceeding BNB’s $92 billion.
- Trading Volume: $10 billion daily, three times BNB’s $3 billion.
- Active Wallets: 6.5 million, up 1,467% since January 2023, compared to BNB’s modest 37% growth.
- TVL Growth: +3,477% since 2023, dwarfing BNB’s 11%.
This surge is driven by Solana’s strategic focus on community engagement and ecosystem culture, propelled by the memecoin boom and user-friendly platforms like Pump Fun and BONKbot. By prioritizing user-centric innovations, Solana has successfully onboarded millions of new wallets and outpaced BNB in user adoption and DEX activity.
In contrast, BNB has shifted its focus toward foundational infrastructure upgrades, including validator expansion, ZK proofs, and parallelized EVMs. While these upgrades are critical for addressing scalability challenges and long-term sustainability, they lack the immediate appeal of Solana’s high-engagement strategy.
Conclusion: Solana’s Edge, BNB’s Challenge
In the 2021 bull cycle, BNB thrived as a cost-effective alternative to Ethereum, meeting the market’s demand for quick deployment and low fees. However, the dynamics of the upcoming 2025 cycle have evolved, with user engagement, scalability, and cultural relevance becoming more significant.
Solana’s success stems from its ability to capitalize on these trends, delivering a superior user experience and dominating high-growth segments like memecoins. Its infrastructure, already robust, allows the chain to focus on ecosystem expansion rather than merely catching up to market demands.
Meanwhile, BNB’s heavy investment in infrastructure upgrades reflects a necessary pivot but highlights a reactive, rather than proactive, approach. Its long-term viability depends on these upgrades materializing into competitive products, but its current inability to attract new users and sustain high engagement places it at a disadvantage.
Now the question remains: Can Solana’s memecoin-driven momentum translate into sustained growth across other sectors, such as its DeFi, DePin, and Social protocols?
While its explosive adoption has positioned it as a contender, the challenge lies in whether this hype can evolve into a diversified ecosystem capable of rivaling Ethereum’s dominance as the leading smart contract platform.
Will Solana’s current trajectory propel it to new heights, or is its growth bounded by the limitations of its memecoin-fueled surge?
