Back in 2025, Solana had a total value locked (TVL) of $9 billion. This increase is a testament to Solana’s strong position in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space. The blockchain network fostered 4 million daily active wallets, propelled by its super-scale throughput and almost-zero transaction fees. These features made it a go-to home for thousands of DeFi, gaming and memecoin projects, powering massive ecosystem growth.
Solana flashed its technical prowess, with bragging rights to a 65,000 TPS throughput and fractions of pennies for fees. That welcomed an eclectic mix of projects to the platform. This massive wave of activity cemented its place as the world’s largest smart contract platform. For all the technological innovation it had, Solana was plagued by issues of network reliability.
In 2022 and 2023, Solana suffered from repeated outages which compounded fears about its reliability. Combined, these disruptions caused a significant but short-term drop in user confidence and network activity. The broader ecosystem growth and ongoing developer traction was enough to keep Solana’s interest alive.
Even with the outages, developers were still excited to build on Solana. The network’s cutting-edge technology and collaborative community culture resulted in a climate of constant advancement and refinement. This resilience proved critical not only in keeping existing users engaged, but in ensuring the continued flow of new projects.
Solana's price experienced notable fluctuations. By early 2025, it had shot back up to $300, demonstrating the return of optimism and a growing number of people using cryptocurrency. Yet, by the middle of 2025, the price bounced back down to $170, due in part to overall market forces and fears about network sustainability and congestion.
Price volatility illustrates just how fluid the current blockchain and cryptocurrency marketplace is. Surely many other qualitative and quantitative factors are all having new major impacts on asset values. Amidst all these ups and downs, the indomitable fundamentals and thriving ecosystem of Solana made it one of the top contenders in the blockchain space.
