Solana DEX volume soars to 168% of Ethereum's mainnet, driven by Raydium's surge in market share

Solana's DEX ecosystem has reached a notable milestone, with its weekly trading volume reaching 168% of Ethereum's mainnet DEX volume, a record high for this metric. 

This represents a big shift from the start of the year when Solana's DEX volume was just 48.85% of Ethereum's. This metric is calculated by dividing Solana's weekly DEX volume by Ethereum's weekly DEX volume and provides insight into the relative trading activity between the two chains.

October saw Raydium, Solana's largest DEX, generate $22.3 billion in volume, while Uniswap on Ethereum processed $38 billion. Raydium has significantly expanded its market share  from 7.6% in January to 18.4% in October, while Uniswap maintains its position as the dominant DEX in the Ethereum ecosystem.

On Solana, the rise of pump.fun tokens have been a major driver of DEX volume, with the platform facilitating high-frequency trading of new tokens.

Recently, the emergence of an AI agent caught the attention of the crypto industry. Truth Terminal, an AI bot, has released several tokens on Solana, prompting social media attention and onchain buzz.

Solana's DEX volume surpassing Ethereum's mainnet volume is significant, but it's important to note that Ethereum's total DEX ecosystem extends beyond the mainnet to include Layer 2 solutions. As Layer 2s continue to become more popular, they could have a larger impact on the SOL vs. ETH DEX volume share.

The nature of trading activity also differs between chains. Raydium’s top trading pools notably include trading of  newer tokens , while Uniswap tends to see more  established token pairs .

While the volume ratio represents a notable milestone for Solana, it's important to consider that raw volume metrics don't necessarily reflect either ecosystems' overall health or long-term sustainability. The different trading patterns and user behaviors on each chain suggest they may serve distinct market needs rather than directly competing.

This is an excerpt from  The Block's Data Insights newsletter . Dig into the numbers making up the industry's most thought-provoking trends.