Author | Wenser, Odaily Planet Daily
In recent days, the crypto market has experienced a general pullback, but the Solana ecosystem's performance last month was still impressive, likely to quickly recover its price and continue the ecological bull market.
Statistics show that in November 2024, Solana's native DApps generated $365 million in income, setting a new monthly record; nearly 84% of the income came from the DeFi ecosystem, while wallets and infrastructure accounted for less than 15%. Additionally, there are 20 Solana DApps with monthly income exceeding $1 million, with pump.fun becoming the 'first Solana protocol in history to exceed $100 million in monthly income.' Odaily Planet Daily will combine relevant reports from Syndica to summarize the performance of the Solana ecosystem in November for readers' reference.
Uncovering Solana: both ecosystem income and protocol income reach new highs
According to statistics, in November, the Solana ecosystem income and DApps income reached $92 million and $365 million, respectively, both setting 'new highs for the year'. Of these, the former was only $6 million at the beginning of the year, increasing 15 times; the latter was only $26 million at the beginning of the year, increasing 14 times.
Notably, 50% of the income from the Solana ecosystem is primarily used for repurchasing and burning SOL tokens; DApps income statistics mainly come from top protocol data and are not fully comprehensive.
At the same time, according to Coingecko data, SOL's price at the beginning of the year was around $101, having previously peaked at over $263 on November 23, and has now fallen back to around $188, with an annual increase of about 88%.
Income chart of the Solana ecosystem and DApps
Solana ecosystem protocols: pump.fun stands out, with 10 protocols achieving monthly income over 10 million
Another example of the rapid development of the Solana ecosystem is the number of protocols with impressive income, with 41 protocols generating more than $100,000 in monthly income in November; 20 protocols exceeding $1 million; 10 protocols exceeding $10 million; and only pump.fun exceeding $100 million.
According to Syndica statistics, pump.fun led the Solana protocol income in November with $106 million, thus earning the title of 'the first Solana protocol with monthly income exceeding $100 million'; other top DApps include Photon, Raydium, BullX, Trojan, BONKbot, Phantom, Jupiter, and other DEX, Telegram Bots, and wallet infrastructure projects.
Solana ecosystem Dapps monthly income segmentation statistics
Top 8 protocols by income ranking data
Main reason for Solana's growth: DeFi sector reigns, Meme ecosystem surges over 300 times
According to statistics, 83.7% of Solana ecosystem protocol income comes from the DeFi sector; in contrast, wallet-related protocol income accounts for 9.6%; infrastructure projects account for 3.4%; NFT sector income accounts for only 2.2%; the gaming sector accounts for even less, at only 0.9%; and the least is the payment sector and DePIN sector, which accounts for less than 1%.
From another perspective, there is still a lot of market space in the Solana ecosystem, particularly in the gaming sector, payment sector, and DePIN sector.
In the DeFi sector, which dominates the Solana ecosystem, the income from Meme coins and protocols supporting Meme coins accounts for the largest share, with annual income reaching $509 million; followed closely by the Telegram Bot sector, with annual income of $300 million; and spot DEX ranked third, with annual income of $141 million. Notably, the monthly income of Meme coin-related DApps grew from $600,000 in January to $18.3 million in November, an increase of 305 times, making it a 'spectacle of the industry.'
Moreover, thanks to the boost from pump.fun, Raydium also became the 'biggest beneficiary' in this sector, with a monthly platform income of $32 million in November, far exceeding Orca and Lifinity, equivalent to 8 times Orca's monthly income and 32 times Lifinity's monthly income. Additionally, since April, the FDV of DEX tokens and the ratio of protocol monthly income have gradually stabilized, remaining in the range of 85% ± 10%.
Thanks to the project's good performance, Raydium repurchased 5.4 million RAY in November, valued at $28 million, for distribution to stakers.
Statistical distribution of income shares in the Solana ecosystem
Meme coin-related DApps dominate
Meme coin-related DApps show astonishing growth
Raydium leads the spot DEX sector
RAY token holders enjoy the overflow effect of Raydium
Endless potential in niche sectors: Telegram Bots become the ecosystem's wealth-generating machine
Similarly benefiting from the booming Meme coin ecosystem, Solana has provided fertile ground for a large number of Telegram Bots.
With the increase in DEX trading volume, the total income of protocols related to Telegram Bots reached $82 million, double the total income of October; accounting for 4.5% of DEX trading volume, and this proportion is becoming increasingly stable. BullX and Trojan have become the top two DApps in this sector, with monthly incomes exceeding $20 million, and a total income close to $60 million.
Telegram Bots become proficient money makers in niche sectors
The 'super application' of the Solana ecosystem: JLP of Jupiter becomes the best target
In November, driven by the perpetual contract of Jupiter, its protocol income grew to $17 million. 75% of the perpetual fees were allocated for JLP LP rewards, with the remaining 25% returned to the Jupiter protocol, making JLP a popular investment target for a surge of capital.
As for partners integrated with the JupiterSwap API, their total protocol income has grown to $153 million this year, with Phantom wallet leading the way, achieving an annual income of $91 million; Solflare ranks second with $31 million in income; platforms like Birdeye and others follow closely.
Overview of Jupiter's monthly income in 2024
Overview of Jupiter Swap API partner income
Phantom becomes the biggest winner
Potential sectors in the Solana ecosystem: lending, NFT, payments, DePIN
In November, Solana's leading lending platform Kamino also performed impressively, with its protocol income breaking new highs, reaching $2.9 million, of which 80% of the income came from lending.
The Solana ecosystem NFT platform Metaplex is a 'low-key to the point of being almost invisible' player, as it serves as the underlying blockchain protocol for almost all tokens, Meme coins, and NFTs on the Solana network, achieving a historic high protocol income of $3.4 million in November; its FDV/protocol income ratio has also dropped from 273 in January to 113 in November, showing improved project stability and less of the previous 'bloat'. Its token MPLX once surged over 20% when the Metaplex Foundation announced the launch of the Aura network in September.
In the payment sector, many projects in the Solana ecosystem now appear to be on the 'brink of explosion', among which, the monthly income of crypto payment company Helio rose from $43,000 in January to $316,000, nearly a 7-fold increase. This project charges a 2% fee for each transaction, while HelioX NFT holders enjoy a 50% discount, needing only a 1% fee.
In the DePIN sector, the leading projects in the Solana ecosystem mainly include Render Network, Nosana, Helium, Hivemapper, with the monthly income of these four projects steadily increasing from around $150,000 in January to a total income of $669,000 in November, an increase of about 446%. It is worth noting that the income here is calculated based on the destruction value of tokens such as RENDER, HONEY, and NOS, for reference only.
Kamino becomes the leading lending platform
Metaplex FDV/income ratio has significantly decreased
Payment infrastructure is on the brink of explosion
DePIN sector makes steady progress
Conclusion: In the short to medium term, Solana still relies on 'walking on one leg', while long-term hopes are pinned on Trump's favorable policies for the crypto economy
In the short to medium term, the bulk of income in the Solana ecosystem still comes from DeFi and Meme coin sectors, although the DePIN sector, which has long been expected by the Solana Foundation and community, has yet to fully break ground despite the 'dream start' with the SAGA phone; the payment sector is still in its early development stage, with the stablecoin exchange pool project Perena, founded by former Solana Foundation member Anna Yuan, expected to bring new changes to the current situation, but still requires time to attract more liquidity.
In the long run, the sustained development of the Solana ecosystem still relies on a series of favorable policies related to the crypto economy introduced after Trump officially takes office as President of the United States, allowing more funds, capital, and blockchain infrastructure to integrate deeply with the U.S. economy, achieving a win-win situation for 'ecosystem, token market value, and token price.'
