Gate Research: 2025 Q1 Solana Network Review

Intermediate

4/23/2025, 8:15:48 AM

This report provides a comprehensive review of Solana’s network performance in Q1 2025. It covers price movements, on-chain activity, the state of smart contracts and staking, growth in stablecoins and decentralized exchanges (DEXs), returns from DePIN, and the cooling of the NFT market. It also examines the implications of the failed inflation governance proposal SIMD-0228 and what it could mean going forward.

Abstract

SOL Price Action: Q1 saw a rally followed by a correction and bottoming out phase, before SOL broke its all-time high of $295.

Derivatives Market: High volatility and active deleveraging characterized Q1. Open interest hit $4.6B by March 31.
Token Distribution: Ownership remained concentrated—mid-to-large holders (100K–1M SOL) made up nearly 60%, with top wallets holding market dominance.

Network Activity: Solana averaged 5.2M daily active addresses and 953M daily transactions throughout the quarter.
Staking Returns: Yields stayed stable. Inflation rewards were the main source, while MEV and gas fees provided ~30% extra returns, boosting staking appeal.
Stablecoins Surge: Total stablecoin market cap jumped 1.43× to $12.1B, becoming a key driver of on-chain activity.
DEX Boom: Daily DEX volume averaged $11B, up 125% from Q4.

DePIN Growth: Weekly revenues from DePIN projects grew to $5.6M, a 52% quarter-over-quarter increase.
NFT Decline: Weekly NFT volume dropped to $6.75M, down 55% from last quarter.
Governance: Proposal SIMD-0228, aimed at reducing SOL inflation by up to 80%, failed to pass.

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Author: Evelyn

Translator: Panie

Reviewer(s): Ember、Addie

Translation Reviewer(s): Ashley、Joyce

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