In recent Solana news, a 21Shares analysis finds that Solana’s blockchain pulled in roughly $2.85 billion in revenue over the 12 months ending September 2025.
That works out to about $240 million per month on average, with a January 2025 peak of $616 million during a memecoin trading surge.
By comparison, Ethereum’s monthly revenue in years four to five of its life (2019–2020) averaged under $10 million.
In other words, Solana today earns roughly 20–30× the per‑month revenue Ethereum did at a similar stage.
Solana News: Trading Platforms and Meme Mania Drive Revenue
Trading fees and tools account for the largest share of Solana’s income. In the past year, trading platforms generated $1.12 billion, about 39 % of Solana’s total.
High‑frequency swap tools like Photon and Axiom handle complex trades and run up huge fees during the late‑2024 meme‑coin boom.
For example, “President Trump’s Trump Coin” spurred record volume and sent January 2025 revenue above $616 million.
Even after that frenzy, monthly revenue has settled around $150–$250 million, drawn from a mix of DEX trading, lending, wallets, DePIN (decentralized infrastructure), and AI‑driven apps.
21Shares noted that Solana’s annual revenue is now comparable to large tech firms – roughly on par with Palantir’s $2.8 B (2024) or Robinhood’s $2.95 B.
Solana Growth Far Ahead of Ethereum’s Early Years
The report underscores how Solana’s growth far exceeds Ethereum’s in its infancy. Ethereum’s revenue in 2019–2020 (four to five years post‑launch) was less than $10 million per month.
By contrast, Solana’s current monthly take is about $240 million, or roughly 20–30× higher. Some months even hit 50× the Ethereum early peak.
Solana’s daily usage also dwarfs Ethereum’s at the same age: the report cites 1.2–1.5 million daily active Solana addresses today, versus about 400k–500k for Ethereum in 2019–2020.
In short, Solana is capturing a much larger share of on‑chain activity, thanks to its higher throughput and lower fees.
Institutional Backing and Outlook
21Shares highlights growing institutional interest in Solana. Publicly traded firms now hold over $3 billion worth of SOL tokens on their balance sheets.
Companies like Forward Industries, Pantera, and Brera (Solmate) have refocused as Solana‑centric businesses.
A U.S. spot SOL ETF is also on the horizon: a decision by the SEC is expected in October 2025, which could unlock wider investor access.
Meanwhile, on‑chain usage metrics are surging – Solana’s DeFi total value locked is nearing $13 billion, stablecoin flows are up 6× year‑over‑year, and over $500 million in tokenized real‑world assets now live on Solana.
The network’s tech is being upgraded too: for example, new validator software (Firedancer) aims for 1 million transactions/sec, and protocols like Alpenglow will cut finality time to under 200 ms.
Solana’s five‑year journey has produced dramatic revenue growth. In 2022–23 the network made only about $13 million in revenue, but it has since scaled to $2.85 B over 12 months (a 220× jump).
As 21Shares puts it, Solana has moved “from resilience to readiness” – its ecosystem is now fully operational and commercially viable.
With diverse use cases, growing institutional support, and high throughput, Solana’s economic engine is firing far hotter than Ethereum’s early stages.