Is Solana Dying? DEX Trading Volume Drops 95% as SOL Price Continues to Fall

ccn.comPublished on 2025-12-16Last updated on 2025-12-16

Abstract

Solana's network activity has declined sharply, with DEX trading volume dropping approximately 95% from its January peak of $38.4 billion to $1.7 billion. Active addresses on Solana-based DEXs also fell to a yearly low of 2.85 million, down significantly from 24 million earlier in the year. Application revenue plummeted 96% to under $1.4 million. Despite the downturn, investment continues, with Coinbase announcing expanded access to Solana-based tokens through direct platform integration at the recent Solana Breakpoint conference. SOL's price remains under pressure, trading around $132, down nearly 4% over the past week. Analysts note a bearish technical structure, including an ascending parallel channel and a descending triangle pattern, suggesting potential further downside. A breakdown could lead to a 16% drop to the $106 support level.

Solana’s network activity has declined sharply in recent months, with trading volume on decentralized exchanges (DEXs) falling by approximately 95%.

The downturn comes as the blockchain’s native token remains under pressure, despite continued inflows from institutional investment and expansion.

Try Our Recommended Crypto Exchanges
Sponsored
Disclosure
We sometimes use affiliate links in our content, when clicking on those we might receive a commission at no extra cost to you. By using this website you agree to our terms and conditions and privacy policy.
"}' data-trk="68df7fd8872238d510dfbf06" href="https://clicks.pipaffiliates.com/c?c=1104900&l=en&p=1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">
XM.com<\/h3>"}' data-trk="68df7fd8872238d510dfbf06" href="https://clicks.pipaffiliates.com/c?c=1104900&l=en&p=1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">

XM.com

promotions
Get 100% Bonus up to $100 on your first Deposit.<\/strong>"}' data-trk="68df7fd8872238d510dfbf06" href="https://clicks.pipaffiliates.com/c?c=1104900&l=en&p=1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Get 100% Bonus up to $100 on your first Deposit.
Coins
28
Claim Offer
"}' data-trk="6899b9831836d97539c51aa6" href="https://www.bitunix.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">
Bitunix<\/h3>"}' data-trk="6899b9831836d97539c51aa6" href="https://www.bitunix.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">

Bitunix

promotions
Receive up to $100,000 worth of exclusive gifts for newcomers upon registration.<\/strong>"}' data-trk="6899b9831836d97539c51aa6" href="https://www.bitunix.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Receive up to $100,000 worth of exclusive gifts for newcomers upon registration.
Coins
151
Claim Offer
"}' data-trk="67adf8d4f12aaec7e4808bf5" href="https://bonus.bitget.com/CCN12" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">
Bitget<\/h3>"}' data-trk="67adf8d4f12aaec7e4808bf5" href="https://bonus.bitget.com/CCN12" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">

Bitget

promotions
Earn rewards worth up to 5,000 USDT on your first deposit<\/strong>"}' data-trk="67adf8d4f12aaec7e4808bf5" href="https://bonus.bitget.com/CCN12" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Earn rewards worth up to 5,000 USDT on your first deposit
Coins
88
Claim Offer

Network Participation Plummets

On-chain data indicates a significant contraction in trading activity on Solana-based decentralized exchanges.

According to blockchain analytics , the total value of Solana spot DEX trading volume has declined by 95% to $1.7 billion from its peak of $38.4 billion in January.

The number of active addresses interacting with Solana-based decentralized exchanges fell to approximately 2.85 million during the week of Dec. 8–14, marking the lowest level in a year.

This represents a sharp drop from January, when active addresses peaked at around 24 million.

Meanwhile, Solana application revenue has plummeted a whopping 96% from $40.6 million to under $1.4 million.

Added Investment

The decline in network activity contrasts with continued investment and infrastructure development across the Solana ecosystem.

At the Solana Breakpoint 2025 conference last week, Coinbase announced it would expand access to Solana-based tokens by integrating them directly into its platform.

Speaking at the event, Andrew, a protocol specialist at Coinbase, said, “We think those markets should be accessible to all of our users.”

The integration enables users to trade Solana-based tokens through Coinbase’s standard interface, eliminating the need for additional steps.

“On the surface it looks the same as existing centralized trading, but on the backend all functions operate on-chain,” engineer Sabs Sachdeva added.

Solana Price Action: Where to Next?

Solana’s price remains under pressure as technical indicators continue to signal downside risk, despite recent attempts at stabilization.

At the time of reporting, SOL was trading at around $132, down nearly 4% over the past seven days.

According to analyst Valdrin Tahiri, SOL has been trading within an ascending parallel channel since Nov. 21, a structure that often reflects corrective price action rather than a sustainable uptrend.

“The SOL price has traded inside an ascending parallel channel since Nov. 21,” Tahiri said, adding that “these channels usually contain corrective movements, so an eventual breakdown is likely.”

Tahiri noted that SOL is currently trading in the lower portion of the channel, which increases the probability of a downside move.

SOL/USDT Daily Chart Credit: Valdrin Tahiri/TradingView

“Additionally, the SOL price trades in the channel’s lower portion, making a breakdown more likely,” he explained.

Beyond the broader channel structure, Tahiri pointed to a bearish short-term pattern reinforcing the negative outlook.

“Furthermore, there is a short-term descending triangle in place, confirming the bearish trend,” he said.

Tahiri warned that a confirmed breakdown below key support levels could trigger a sharp decline.

“Once the SOL price closes below support, it could quickly plummet 16% to the next support at $106,” he added.

Top Picks for Solana
  • Best Exchanges for Solana Get A Great Offer When You Join These Exchanges
  • Buy Solana Fast & Easy How To Buy Solana With a Credit Card Now
  • Best Online Casinos for Solana See Our Picks for the Best Crypto Gambling Sites

Related Reads

From Theft to Re-entry: How Was $292 Million "Laundered"?

A sophisticated crypto laundering operation was executed following the $292 million hack of Kelp DAO on April 18. The attack, attributed to the North Korean Lazarus group, began with anonymous infrastructure preparation using Tornado Cash to fund wallets untraceably. The hacker exploited a vulnerability in Kelp’s cross-chain bridge, stealing 116,500 rsETH. To avoid crashing the market, the attacker used Aave and Compound as laundering tools—depositing the stolen rsETH as collateral to borrow $190 million in clean, liquid ETH. This move triggered a bank run on Aave, causing an $8 billion drop in TVL. After consolidating funds, the attacker fragmented them across hundreds of wallets to evade detection. A major breakpoint was THORChain, where over $460 million in volume—30 times its usual activity—was processed in 24 hours, converting ETH into Bitcoin. This shift to Bitcoin’s UTXO model exponentially increased tracing complexity by shattering funds into countless untraceable fragments. The final destination was Tron-based USDT, the primary channel for illicit crypto flows. From there, funds were cashed out via OTC brokers in China and Southeast Asia, using unlicensed underground banks and UnionPay networks outside Western sanctions scope. Ultimately, the laundered money supports North Korea’s weapons programs, which rely heavily on crypto hacking for foreign currency. The incident underscores structural challenges in DeFi: its openness, composability, and lack of central control make such laundering not just possible, but inherently difficult to prevent.

marsbit48m ago

From Theft to Re-entry: How Was $292 Million "Laundered"?

marsbit48m ago

Google and Amazon Simultaneously Invest Heavily in a Competitor: The Most Absurd Business Logic of the AI Era Is Becoming Reality

In a span of four days, Amazon announced an additional $25 billion investment, and Google pledged up to $40 billion—both direct competitors pouring over $65 billion into the same AI startup, Anthropic. Rather than a typical venture capital move, this signals the latest escalation in the cloud wars. The core of the deal is not equity but compute pre-orders: Anthropic must spend the majority of these funds on AWS and Google Cloud services and chips, effectively locking in massive future compute consumption. This reflects a shift in cloud market dynamics—enterprises now choose cloud providers based on which hosts the best AI models, not just price or stability. With OpenAI deeply tied to Microsoft, Anthropic’s Claude has become the only viable strategic asset for Google and Amazon to remain competitive. Anthropic’s annualized revenue has surged to $30 billion, and it is expanding into verticals like biotech, positioning itself as a cross-industry AI infrastructure layer. However, this funding comes with constraints: Anthropic’s independence is challenged as it balances two rival investors, its safety-first narrative faces pressure from regulatory scrutiny, and its path to IPO introduces new financial pressures. Globally, this accelerates a "tri-polar" closed-loop structure in AI infrastructure, with Microsoft-OpenAI, Google-Anthropic, and Amazon-Anthropic forming exclusive model-cloud alliances. In contrast, China’s landscape differs—investments like Alibaba and Tencent backing open-source model firm DeepSeek reflect a more decoupled approach, though closed-source models from major cloud providers still dominate. The $65 billion bet is ultimately about securing a seat at the table in an AI-defined future—where missing the model layer means losing the cloud war.

marsbit6h ago

Google and Amazon Simultaneously Invest Heavily in a Competitor: The Most Absurd Business Logic of the AI Era Is Becoming Reality

marsbit6h ago

Trading

Spot
Futures

Hot Articles

Discussions

Welcome to the HTX Community. Here, you can stay informed about the latest platform developments and gain access to professional market insights. Users' opinions on the price of SOL (SOL) are presented below.

活动图片