- Solana has emerged as the largest protocol by traffic sources and benefits from its memecoin hosting.
- Ethereum fell in total visits recorded on chain as the focus shifted to L2 networks like Base.
According to CoinGecko, Solana ranked first in 2024 in terms of traffic and investor interest, surpassing other blockchains in the top 20 places. Solana accounted for 38.79% of total global traffic, highlighting its strong position in the crypto market. Coinbase’s Layer 2 platform Base followed with 16.81%.
Other blockchains in the top five spots include Ethereum, Toncoin and Sui, which have traffic shares of 10.76, 6.2 and 4.83 percent, respectively. It is important to note that CoinGecko’s study only considers actively listed coins and includes a non-zero traffic percentage.
CoinGecko statistics show that Solana is the most popular blockchain since 1Q24. The resurgence of interest in memecoins is a major factor in Solana’s success. Additionally, Solana is attractive because of its speed, reliability, and low gas fees.
Interestingly, Base has also benefited from the increase in memecoin trading. However, Solana saw a 10% decline in investor interest from Q1 to Q4. In contrast, Base saw a five-fold increase. Despite this shift, Solana retained its first place in global traffic shares.
For Ethereum, the altcoin’s traffic shares have fallen by 1.9% since Q1 2024. This decline is likely due to Ethereum’s established platform status, making it less popular among investors. Additionally, investor attention is likely to be spread across the Layer 2 networks built on top of the blockchain.
Notably, 97% of investor interest was in the top 20 blockchain ranks, while the remaining 3% was spread across 47 other blockchains.
Pump.fun’s contribution to SOL growth
The bullish rally around Pump.fun, a Solana-based memecoin launchpad, has contributed to Solana’s growth. As CNF reported, Pump.fun was recently the fastest-growing app by revenue. The platform issued over 2.5 million SOL tokens between January and October 2024. As of November 14th, it had issued 3.26 million memecoins. This success has attracted even more users looking to get their hands on the next gem.
Pump.fun leverages memecoins’ frequent association with cultural and social phenomena to increase engagement and profitability. The platform’s success has sparked interest from investors and experts who want to examine the long-term consequences of the trend.
Despite its rapid expansion, Pump.fun faces tough competition and criticism. As a CNF report shows, many crypto market participants have questioned the viability and ethics of memecoins. Some consider memecoins to be a reflection of speculative investment patterns. They argue that the project can result in huge profits for a few while the rest suffer heavy losses.
