SOL funding rates stayed below the 6% neutral level, signaling reduced appetite for leveraged bullish positions among traders.
Solana’s native token, SOL (SOL), climbed back to $229 on Tuesday after briefly dipping to $218. The move came as investors responded positively to the US Federal Reserve’s release of minutes from its Sept. 17 meeting, which reaffirmed expectations of additional interest rate cuts in 2025.
Traders remain optimistic that SOL could advance toward the $300 mark, a target that appears realistic given the strong bullish sentiment reflected in derivatives metrics and onchain data.
Solana recorded a 22% increase in seven-day network fees, driven by rising activity across decentralized exchanges (DEXs). Meanwhile, its main rival by deposits, Ethereum, saw the opposite trend, with network revenue falling 21% during the same period. Solana continues to dominate in transaction count, surpassing the combined total of Ethereum and its layer-2 ecosystem.
DEX volumes on Pump rose 78% over the past seven days, followed by a 73% increase on Meteora and a 46% rise on Raydium. Solana regained its leading position in decentralized exchange activity, posting $129 billion in 30-day volume and surpassing Ethereum’s $114 billion, according to DefiLlama data. Notably, the fastest-growing rival, Hyperliquid, has stalled at around $31 billion.
Network fees remain a key element for any blockchain focused on decentralized applications, particularly when the revenue helps offset inflationary pressures. Unless the system is centralized, maintaining validators incurs costs, and staking participants expect a reasonable return. In short, weak network activity discourages holding the native token and can trigger sell pressure.
Solana’s total value locked (TVL) rose 8% in 30 days, supporting further growth in network fees. Standout performers included a 20% rise in Kamino deposits, 12% in Drift, and 12% in Orca. By comparison, Ethereum’s TVL increased 3% over the same period, while Tron deposits grew 6%. As a result, Solana has solidified its position as the second-largest network, with $14.2 billion in TVL, representing an 8% market share.
The rapid surge in activity on the perpetual futures trading platform Aster has redirected traders’ focus toward BNB Chain, following a wave of memecoins that soared 150% or more within seven days. As a result, even though SOL’s price rose 3% during the same period, BNB’s remarkable 28% rally weighed on sentiment among Solana ecosystem investors.
Data from SOL perpetual futures provides insight into whether traders have lost confidence after the failed attempt to break above $250 on Sept. 18. Many SOL holders are likely frustrated, especially as some rival tokens have recently reached new all-time highs, including BNB at $1,357 on Tuesday and Mantle (MNT) at $2.81 on Wednesday.
The funding rate on SOL perpetual futures has remained below the 6% neutral threshold, signaling weak demand for bullish leveraged positions. This cautious stance among traders may be partly attributed to the growing traction of competing blockchains, which have drawn attention away from Solana despite record weekly inflows into its exchange-traded products.
CoinShares reported that Solana ETFs and ETPs attracted $706 million in inflows during the seven days ending Sept. 5, far surpassing the $219 million recorded by XRP instruments. Investors now anticipate that the US Securities and Exchange Commission will approve multiple spot Solana ETFs on Friday, a development that could drive additional institutional inflows and potentially push SOL’s price beyond $300.
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.
