The Solana community is celebrating record-high revenue, but this milestone indicates users are paying significant transaction fees.
The rivalry between Solana and Ethereum supporters is intensifying, with Solana enthusiasts celebrating the network surpassing Ethereum in daily revenue for the first time.
On May 12, data from Blockworks Research showed that Solana’s total economic value—comprising transaction fees and Maximal Extractable Value (MEV)—exceeded that of Ethereum. Solana generated nearly $2.25 million in 24-hour revenue, surpassing Ethereum’s $1.98 million by almost 13%.
This achievement was widely celebrated in the Solana community, with many interpreting it as a sign that Solana might soon overtake Ethereum. Joe McCann, founder of cryptocurrency investment firm Asymmetric, highlighted the milestone, noting that “SOL is currently 1/5th the value of ETH.” Influencer Ansem added, “[Solana] is still 100x cheaper to transact on for users. Explain to me in detail why ETH is still worth 5x more by market cap.”
However, some critics pointed out that the comparison excluded Ethereum’s Layer 2 solutions. Leon Waidmann, an analyst at BTC-Echo, noted, “It’s crucial to remember this comparison only includes the Ethereum mainchain, not accounting for ETH’s value in Layer 2 networks. This makes the comparison flawed.”
Solana’s Rising Fees
Despite the celebration, Solana’s rising transaction fees were overlooked. Solana boasts high throughput, handling 2,000 to 3,000 transactions per second (TPS) recently. However, recent congestion led to many failed transactions. Dune Analytics data showed over 60% of Solana transactions failed in the past month, and successful transactions dropped by over 50% since November.
To counter congestion, users have been paying higher fees. Average transaction fees on Solana reached new highs, peaking at $0.06 on March 18 before falling to $0.0136. Yet, these fees remain higher than those on Ethereum’s leading Layer 2 solutions, which average between $0.005 and $0.012.
From February to May, over 75% of Solana’s transaction revenue came from non-vote priority fees—additional charges users pay to prioritize their transactions in a congested network.
Ethereum’s Continued Dominance
Despite Solana’s revenue milestone, Ethereum remains a leader in several key metrics. According to DeFi Llama, Ethereum outperforms Solana in decentralized exchange volume by 33% daily and 26% weekly. Messari’s analysis also shows Ethereum leading in “real volume,” with $24.8 billion compared to Solana’s $6.77 billion.
Ethereum’s DeFi total value locked (TVL) is $53.6 billion, far surpassing Solana’s $4.5 billion. Additionally, Ether has a market cap of $354.8 billion, compared to $111.3 billion for SOL.
