Opinion by: Lynn Nguyen, CEO of Saros
Decentralized exchanges (DEXs) on Solana have consistently led trading volume charts, surpassing those on competing chains such as Ethereum, Base, and BSC.
The majority of this trading volume increase can be attributed to memecoins. While they have demonstrated product-market fit in the crypto space, only a select few have shown resilience through different market cycles.
To maintain their leadership, Solana DEXs must also prove their ability to withstand shifting market dynamics and transient trends.
This includes cultivating more robust and liquid markets for enduring assets like Bitcoin, achieved by enhancing the depth and variety of their liquidity pools.
The rise of Solana DEXs
“Solana is drinking the Ethereum milkshake.”
This was how OKX characterized the growing significance of Solana DEXs in its report, ‘The State of DEXs 2025’ report.
In late December 2024, Solana DEXs captured nearly 90% of the total DEX market share, marking a remarkable comeback after the ecosystem’s alleged capitulation during the latest bear market. Since then, its dominance has varied but remained notably robust.
With superior transaction speeds, low fees, and supportive developer tools, Solana has surged ahead in both transaction volume and DEX user activity. As stated in the OKX report:
“Solana is truly the retail chain.”
Market share stayed over 50% in January 2025 — at times even surpassing Ethereum and Base.
Matthew Sigel, head of research at asset management platform VanEck, noted that “Despite the MemeCoin Meltdown, Solana DEX volumes are still holding their own — roughly matching the entire ETH ecosystem.”
However, it wasn’t until August that Ethereum-based DEXs surpassed those of Solana, propelled by institutional interest and massive spot ETF inflows.
The decline in trading volume of speculative assets has resulted in a notable dip in overall DEX volume on Solana. By early September, volumes plummeted 65% to $10 billion. These losses were further aggravated by the emergence of “Prop” or “Dark” AMMs on Solana, which have diminished the market share of traditional DEXs over the past year.
This begs the question: Should Solana DEXs shift their focus towards more sustainable assets?
Two key obstacles to growth
Solana DEXs face two primary challenges: an over-dependence on trading speculative assets and issues with liquidity depth.
The most speculative assets tend to be the most volatile, resulting in significant fluctuations in not only asset prices but also trading volumes, particularly over longer time frames.
Related: Solana DEX Jupiter suspends DAO voting until 2026 to focus on DeFi growth
For instance, trading volume on Pump.fun, Solana’s leading memecoin launchpad, dropped 63% in one month, with DEX volume declining by 90%. This happened during what is widely perceived as a bull market. Moreover, various scams and sharp price declines, including LIBRA and TRUMP meme tokens, have at times tarnished Solana’s reputation as a dependable trading platform.
Focusing on liquidity depth in Solana, a detailed analysis in OKX’s 2025 DEX report revealed troubling indicators. A comparative analysis of Ethereum, Solana, BSC, Arbitrum, and Base over 30 days illustrated that Solana lagged behind on key metrics, such as trading history, liquidity depth, and consistent trading volume.
Many Solana liquidity pools lack sufficient total value locked (TVL), suggesting that although Solana managed to achieve high DEX trading volumes, it did so with significantly less liquidity compared to other blockchains, potentially leading to negative price impact for traders.
Enhancing capital efficiency is essential, and liquidity depth is only advantageous if properly utilized. It falls upon aggregators to efficiently route trades through various liquidity sources, and DEXs to ensure adequate depth to support larger trades.
Building liquid markets
To introduce more liquidity into Solana DEXs, there’s a need to populate them with robust and high market cap tokens, starting with the largest, Bitcoin.
Bitcoin DeFi (BTCFi) is already a flourishing segment within the crypto market. As a $2.3 trillion asset class, both protocols and users are increasingly looking to leverage BTC as a productive asset through on-chain activities. In fact, BTCFi VC funding reached $175 million in the first half of 2025.
Solana DEXs now have the chance to build deep liquidity for a variety of BTC-wrapped assets that are surfacing, many of which already possess substantial individual market caps. Bitcoin has consistently demonstrated its capability to withstand uncertain and volatile market conditions throughout its 17-year history.
Following BTCFi, stablecoin markets continue to grow robustly. Their demand is even greater as we transition into a bear market, making it logical to build deep liquidity for various stablecoins.
This is especially relevant for blockchains like Solana, which show an evident interest in ramping up stablecoin adoption. The signs are clear — take note of Solana’s Stable Future Summit in Korea, its inaugural stablecoin-focused conference held on Sept. 23 of this year.
By prioritizing the most resilient assets, such as Bitcoin and stablecoins, we can create a stronger foundation for Solana DeFi. This approach will support Solana’s long-term ambition of becoming a cornerstone for internet capital markets and enable it to remain resilient in adverse market scenarios.
Opinion by: Lynn Nguyen, CEO of Saros.
This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.
