Solana (SOL) Gets Most of Its On-Chain Revenue from Memecoins: VanEck

VanEck, a global investment management firm headquartered in New York City, has released its monthly crypto recap for April 2025, and in the report, it highlighted Solana and how most of its on-chain revenue comes from memecoins.

Global investment management firm headquartered in New York City, VanEck, has released its monthly crypto recap for April 2025, and in the report, it highlighted Solana and how most of its on-chain revenue comes from memecoins.

An excerpt from the recap was shared on X, formerly Twitter, by Matthew Sigel, head of digital assets research at VanEck. He highlighted Solana’s apparent dependence on meme trading, something that may not be sustainable in the long run.

"Memecoins remain the primary driver of Solana's onchain revenues. In January 2025, they accounted for 44% of decentralized exchange trading volume, and 35% in April 2025. If we exclude stablecoins, SOL, and SOL liquid staking tokens, often on the other side of trades, memecoins… pic.twitter.com/RUHxVoTfOj

— matthew sigel, recovering CFA (@matthew_sigel) May 5, 2025

The numbers according to VanEck

According to VanEck, in January 2025, memecoins accounted for 44% of decentralized exchange trading volume and 35% in April 2025.

The report claims that if stablecoins, SOL, and SOL liquid staking tokens, which are often on the other side of trades are excluded, memecoins make up 99% of Solana trading activity in January and 95% in April.

After Sigel shared the excerpt on his X page, some users chimed in with their opinions on the subject. One of them rose to Solana’s defense, pointing out that all this means is that memecoins have found a product-market fit on Solana as they generate significant transaction fees, subsidizing infrastructure costs, thereby making Solana a viable “onchain casino.”

“While other chains chase ‘serious’ use cases, Solana became the best-performing exchange layer in crypto by simply letting people trade what they want. And memecoins subsidize infra. Every onchain casino needs a house,” the user wrote.

Another user highlighted how Solana already has “all known types of token and nft trading apps already except a gud perp dex” to which Solana’s cofounder Anatoly Yakovenko, replied “Make a better one! It’s your destiny.”

Solana’s ability to process large volumes of decentralized trading is proof that it is a great platform that can support memecoins but also future applications, such as gaming or new trading platforms.

Of course, it may need to answer community concerns about the topic of centralization. There is little doubt Solana is fast and scalable but the crypto community places a lot of value on decentralization, and any hint of centralized control could limit its appeal.

Efforts are being made to address this issue via validator delegation adjustments, but that does not completely eliminate the challenge.

Dependence on memecoins for on-chain revenue raises sustainability concerns

Solana’s heavy reliance on memecoins raises critical questions about sustainability. However, according to VanEck, Solana’s ability to handle large volumes of decentralized trading positions shows great promise, positioning it as a leader for future breakout trading applications.

In the event that memecoins actually lose their appeal and degens move on to something else, Solana will be forced to pivot to other use cases like gaming, payments or even institutional DeFi to maintain its momentum revenue-wise.

Despite VanEck’s claim that most of Solana’s on-chain revenue came from memecoins, the slight decline in dominance — from 44% to 35% of DEX volume between January and April 2025 — may hint at a maturing ecosystem.

If Solana can capitalize on its recent technical upgrades and quick-fire capabilities, it can attract new applications such as the perp dex users mentioned in the comments or even gaming platforms. This will greatly reduce its reliance on memecoins and encourage the development of a more diversified, sustainable ecosystem.

However, until that happens, Solana will remain the memecoin casino of the crypto world, a role it is exceptionally equipped to fill.