Solana Surpasses Ethereum in Weekly Fees for the First Time in 2024

• Solana surpassed Ethereum in weekly total fees for the first time last week, generating over $25 million compared to Ethereum’s $21 million.
• Despite the surge in fees and TVL, BlackRock’s CIO for ETFs, Samara Cohen, confirmed there are no immediate plans for a Solana ETF.

Ethereum’s Layer-1 competitor Solana has been setting up the competition bar higher while surpassing the number 2 blockchain platform in weekly total fees for the first time last week. As per the data from Blockworks Research, the Solana blockchain minted more than $25 million in fees against Ethereum’s $21 million.

This development comes at a time when the Foundation unveiled blockchain links (blinks), per the CNF report.

Throughout this year in 2024 so far, the Ethereum-killer has been on a strong footing particularly supported by the Solana-based memecoins and the frenzy in the other celebrity coins running on the Solana network e.g. the Solana-based memecoin platforms like Moonshot and Pump.fun. The meme coin sector commands a market cap of more than $50 billion.

As per the data from Blockworks Research, the total value locked (TVL) on the Solana network has surged to more than $5.5 billion. This is a nearly 3x jump since the beginning of 2024. On July 28, the Solana blockchain minted the total daily fee of $5.5 million, the highest in three months.

Blockworks data analytics manager Dan Smith said that this total fee includes all forms of revenue for the Solana blockchain including validators, tips, as well as maximum extractable value (MEV). He further explained the breakout that 58% of the revenue came from MEV tips and 37% from priority transaction fees. “Solana validators and stakers are absolutely eating this cycle,” Smith said.

Chances of Solana Ethereum ETF Look Bleak

The SOL cryptocurrency has given a strong rally in 2024 shooting past $185 earlier this week. Amid the broader market correction, the Solana price is also facing some selling pressure trading 5.5% down as of press time at $180 with a market cap of $83.9 billion. Market analysts believe that SOL could be heading for a 900% rally moving ahead, per the CNF update.

On the other hand, market analysts have already started talking about a spot Solana ETF, soon after the launch of Ethereum ETF last week, per the CNF update. Samara Cohen – BlackRock’s CIO for ETFs recently confirmed that they aren’t pursuing any further crypto ETFs, pouring cold water on the hopes of a Solana ETF as well.

Cohen said that in addition to the technical difficulties involving the launch of such crypto ETFs, there is no major appetite for products like Solana ETF in the market.

We really look at the investability to see what meets the criteria, what meets the bar to be delivered in an ETF. For us, both in terms of investability and also what we hear from our clients, Bitcoin and Ethereum definitely meet that bar, but it will be a while before we see anything else,

On the other hand, asset managers like VanEck have shown interest in pursuing the SOL ETF saying that they have a strong demand from their clients.