Ethereum (ETH 5.91%) and Solana (SOL 5.69%) are two of essentially the most profitable cryptocurrencies, each rating in the highest 10 by market cap. They’re additionally direct rivals. Every is a blockchain platform the place builders can construct decentralized apps (dApps) and launch crypto tokens.
As a result of Ethereum launched in 2015, 5 years sooner than Solana, it established a massive early lead in phrases of recognition and utilization. However that hole has been closing. Over the past 12 months, Solana’s worth has risen by 10%, whereas Ethereum’s has fallen by over 30%. This is why Solana is the higher crypto investment proper now.
Solana is the sooner, extra environment friendly blockchain
Ethereum grew to become the highest blockchain platform in half due to its first-mover advantage, however going second has its advantages, too. Solana’s builders have been capable of create a blockchain that blows Ethereum away in phrases of efficiency.
Based on Solana’s reside transaction stats, it recurrently processes over 4,000 transactions per second (tps). Ethereum is at about 15 tps on the time of this writing. Whereas each blockchains use a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism to validate transactions, Solana combines that with its distinctive proof-of-history consensus mechanism. Proof of historical past incorporates timestamps into the validation course of, tremendously enhancing processing speeds and prices.
The common transaction price on Solana is simply $0.00025, cheaper than on most different blockchains. Ethereum’s median gas fees (its time period for transaction charges) are $0.05, however they fluctuate relying on the kind of transaction and community congestion.
Solana customers are much less more likely to encounter community congestion since its proof-of-history consensus mechanism makes it so significantly better at processing transactions. Additionally they pay far much less in charges. And based mostly on latest numbers, crypto lovers are taking discover.
Solana’s now making extra in charges and has increased income
At its peak in November 2021, Ethereum earned $1.8 billion in charges, in line with DefiLlama. Since then, it has largely been trending downward. Extra just lately, it made roughly $140 million in charges in January of this 12 months and $46 million in February.
Earlier than 2024, Solana was nicely behind Ethereum in this metric. Nevertheless it narrowed the hole final 12 months and has been beating Ethereum by a huge margin in 2025, with almost $250 million in charges in January and over $80 million in February. The Solana workforce has frequently improved with new improvements, together with liquid staking in 2024, which permits individuals to stake their SOL tokens, earn rewards, and obtain a liquid staking spinoff they will use to earn further returns.
Charges point out the quantity of exercise on a blockchain, so Solana’s a lot bigger numbers exhibit its growing recognition. Charges aren’t the one space the place Solana has the sting on Ethereum this 12 months, both. It additionally had increased income numbers in January and February.
|
Blockchain |
January 2025 Income |
February 2025 Income |
|---|---|---|
|
Solana |
$124.2 million |
$44.9 million |
|
Ethereum |
$109.1 million |
$26.2 million |
Knowledge supply: DefiLlama.
A rising variety of individuals are selecting Solana over Ethereum for his or her crypto tasks. And there is one sort of undertaking, in explicit, that has taken off just lately.
The go-to blockchain for launching meme cash
Meme coins have a controversial popularity in the crypto neighborhood. Severe cryptocurrency supporters usually see meme cash as ineffective at finest and pump-and-dump scams at worst. More often than not, that is correct.
However even when they serve little goal, meme cash stay widespread. Case in level, Dogecoin has a market cap of $35.7 billion. Because of its low charges, Solana has turn out to be the place to launch meme cash, with Official Trump and Melania Meme being two of the extra well-known examples.
There’s even a Solana-based platform, Pump.enjoyable, that permits anybody to immediately create a meme coin. It requires little or no technical data and prices solely about $2 in SOL tokens.
Pump.enjoyable basically makes launching meme cash on Solana as simple and low cost as attainable, and it has been wildly profitable. Since March 1, 2024, it has generated over $575 million in charges. And in simply the final two weeks, it has had over $2 billion in buying and selling quantity.
Ethereum is greater and extra established, however Solana is the higher funding
Ethereum has been firmly entrenched because the No. 2 cryptocurrency behind Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) for years. It in all probability will not lose that place anytime quickly. Based on a 2024 report by Electrical Capital, it is presently the highest blockchain platform worldwide by share of total builders.
However at this stage, Ethereum’s a lackluster crypto funding. Charges are declining, it may possibly’t deal with many transactions per second, and it solely just lately introduced fuel charges right down to a cheap degree.
Solana, however, is on the rise. Transactions course of shortly and value simply a fraction of what they do on Ethereum. Whereas Ethereum could have the most important share of builders, Solana is second and have become the No. 1 blockchain for brand new builders in 2024. That 12 months, 7,625 new builders explored Solana, in comparison with 6,456 who explored Ethereum.
On-chain exercise for Solana can also be selecting up, as seen in its price numbers. Elevated exercise helped Solana’s worth hit an all-time excessive in January, the identical month it hit an all-time excessive in income and charges.
Crypto costs, together with Solana’s, have pulled again since then, which is a regular prevalence. Cryptocurrencies are unstable, so even with high quality tasks, it is clever to take a cautious strategy and be prepared for the ups and downs. Choosing the proper cryptocurrency investments can also be essential to offer your portfolio the most effective likelihood of success. Whereas Ethereum and Solana are each widespread selections, Solana has way more going for it as a long-term funding.
