Solana Price Slides While Usage Booms: What’s Really Going On?

[Ben Graham]

Solana price has trended lower since January, even as the network racks up record usage and revenue. We watched SOL lag while the chain generated over $271 million in Q2 2025 fees and payments, more than any other network for three straight quarters.

The gap between price and activity sits inside a bigger crypto story: money rotating between Layer-1s, meme coins, and ETFs while regulators and institutions focus on Solana.

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Why Has Solana Fallen While The Network Looks Strong?

If you are new to Solana, it’s a high-speed blockchain computer competing with Ethereum. It handles lots of transactions cheaply, which attracts traders and app builders. According to CoinDesk, Solana brought in over $271 million in network revenue in Q2 2025 and led all chains in users for three quarters in a row.

So why does the price sag? One reason is that the wild trading spike early in the year cooled off. January 2025 saw peak decentralized exchange (DEX) activity on Solana with about $408 billion traded, with more than $37 billion on the 18th of January. A DEX itself is a crypto stock market with no inbetweener. As that frenzy slowed by March, short-term traders left, and the momentum has faded.

We have already seen how this pattern plays out in other coverage, like our piece on Solana DEX volume beating Binance. The chain handled more trading than the biggest centralized exchange, yet SOL’s chart looks heavy. That disconnect confuses us, who expect “more usage = higher price” on a straight line.

(source – Defillama)

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What Does This Usage-Price Gap Mean For Solana Holders?

Solana price reacts to flows and narratives in the short term, while usage and revenue guide the long story. When traders rotate into meme coins or other Layer-1s like Aptos, Sui, or Near, SOL can drop even when Solana’s apps hum along.

It hurts if you bought near the highs and stare at red candles every day. Yes, imagine being the one who bought Solana at its $293 top, or 59% down to today’s price.

JUST IN: 27% OF @SOLANA'S OUTFLOWS SHIFTED TO @SUINETWORK IN THE PAST MONTH pic.twitter.com/C6D0nJnoun

— ToreroRomero (@ToreroRomero) October 8, 2024

At the same time, big money keeps lining up products around Solana. Franklin Templeton spot SOL ETF is live, it’s now letting people buy exposure to SOL in a regular brokerage account. More recently, CME Group is preparing to launch Solana futures, per another Reuters report, which is a big step for Wall Street traders.

NEW: FRANKLIN TEMPLETON ANNOUNCES ITS SOLANA ETF IS NOW LIVE pic.twitter.com/D6BzKnUX6Q

— DEGEN NEWS (@DegenerateNews) December 3, 2025

These moves matter because they make it easier for institutions to trade and hedge SOL. That does not guarantee a higher price, but it means SOL is graduating from pure retail hype into the same toolbox as Bitcoin and Ethereum. If you want more background before risking money, our main Solana market positioning guide helps you see how this fits the 2025 narrative.

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How Should We Treat SOL In This Kind Of Downtrend?

When price falls while fundamentals look solid, the biggest danger is emotional trading. Many beginners either panic-sell near the bottom or revenge-buy dips without a plan. Instead, treat Solana like a high-growth tech stock: exciting, but risky, very risky.

Ask yourself, “Am I buying a five-year story or chasing last month’s chart?”

If you already hold SOL, check what percent of your net worth sits in it. For us, keeping any single altcoin as a small slice of your portfolio helps you sleep at night. Never store rent, emergency money, or debt payments in SOL. The same network that posts $271 million in quarterly revenue can still drop 50% in a bad market swing.

Also, remember that strong metrics do not erase risks. Solana has dealt with outages and stress events before, which we covered in our piece on Solana under DDoS pressure. High throughput is great, but you still depend on the chain staying stable, devs shipping, and regulators staying comfortable with SOL ETFs and futures.

(source – Google)

If you believe in Solana’s long-term role alongside Ethereum and other Layer-1s, this kind of downtrend is more about position sizing and patience than prediction.

Watch how usage, revenue, and ETFs progress, evolve, zoom out, and stop looking at just the daily candle. As institutions step in and speculation cycles through, the real story will show up where the builders, users, and fees go, not just where the line moves this week.

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