- Grayscale calls Solana a financial bazaar for the cryptocurrency as on-chain activity drives long-term growth expectations.
- VanEck’s updated Solana ETF filing sets fees at 0.30%, increasing institutional investor attention and near-term price optimism.
Grayscale Research published an extensive study describing Solana as the leading smart contract network in growth and real-world usage. Citing both on-chain metrics and project activity, the report finds Solana outperforming most competitors in daily transactions, fee generation, and user engagement.
Solana’s decentralized exchange, social apps, and real-world integration power the growing network economy. Grayscale’s analysis lists Raydium, Jupiter, Pump.fun, and Helium as the most active projects. Together, they are at the heart of Solana’s networking efforts this year.
Raydium alone has generated over $1.2 trillion in trading volume, surpassing all other decentralized exchange ecosystems. Pump.fun currently reports nearly 2 million monthly users, while Helium maintains more than 1.5 million daily users through its transition to a wireless network.
The report estimates that Solana generates approximately $425 million in fees each month, or approximately $5 billion annually. These numbers reflect real demand, not speculation. The average transaction cost is approximately $0.001, block finalization occurs in 12 seconds, and a new block is added every 400 milliseconds.
Grayscale says:
Solana is an invisible metropolis of millions of users, performing thousands of transactions per second and interacting with an almost overwhelming diversity of applications. Solana is a cryptocurrency financial bazaar.
Market position and risk factors
Solana has a market capitalization of $119 billion, making it the fifth largest digital asset and third in terms of liquidity. Approximately two-thirds of all SOL tokens in circulation are staked, with an average return of 7% before inflation, or approximately 2.5-3% in real terms.
Grayscale also mentioned challenges that could impact future stability. If node operators are concentrated in data centers, increasing demands on hardware and bandwidth can lead to increased centralization. Inflation could reduce Solana’s long-term appeal as a store of value compared to Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Despite these points, Grayscale said these issues are “unresolved” and could develop positively as the ecosystem matures. Grayscale said,
Solana’s diverse on-chain economy creates a strong foundation for SOL’s evaluation and future growth.
VanEck updates Solana ETF application documentation
In another development, VanEck has filed Amendment No. 5 with the U.S. SEC regarding the proposed Spot Solana ETF. This update establishes a 0.30% administrative fee and moves the product closer to potential regulatory review and approval.
The proposal includes a staking plan where SOL tokens are delegated to multiple independent third-party validators. Each validator is selected based on performance, uptime, and compliance criteria. The goal is to maximize staking rewards for ETF participants while maintaining structural transparency.
SOL is currently trading $205.83is shown. 5.67% Increased over the past 24 hours. Market analysts say the $200 zone serves as an important support level to watch. If the price rises above this level, it could move towards the $220-$230 range in the near term. On the other hand, a decline below $195 could lead to short-term selling pressure and profit-taking.
