Solana Surge Sparks Optimism, but Yakovenko Stresses Long Road Ahead

Solana (SOL) has been riding a wave of hype, with its price climbing above $136 and network activity reaching new highs. Some analysts are going so far as to predict that Solana could eventually host 95% of all crypto users. However, co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko recently offered a dose of realism, noting that while Solana is excelling at execution, long-term dominance will require far more than speed and scale.

According to Yakovenko, the real challenge now is converting high user engagement into strong user retention. While Solana leads in areas like daily decentralized exchange (DEX) trading volume — clocking over $1.71 billion in 24-hour volume, surpassing Ethereum’s $924 million and BNB Chain’s $654 million — it still lags behind Ethereum in terms of capital depth and DeFi diversity.

Solana’s total value locked (TVL) is approximately $8.82 billion, compared to Ethereum’s massive $50.23 billion. Stablecoin activity reflects a similar gap: Solana supports about $12.71 billion, largely in USDC, while Ethereum handles over $122 billion in stablecoins used across lending, derivatives, and other products.

Validator incentives on Solana also remain modest. Current annual rewards average 424 SOL per validator, around $35,000 at current prices, enough to cover operational costs but less appealing compared to ecosystems with more lucrative staking yields.

Despite these hurdles, Solana’s low fees, high throughput, and growing user base position it as a serious contender in the DeFi space. Still, the ecosystem needs to build stronger protocol diversity and deeper liquidity to rival Ethereum's entrenched dominance. As Yakovenko suggests, there’s still significant work ahead before Solana can claim the throne.