Solana outpaces Ethereum and BSC in transactions, DEX volume, and fees ahead of its Q1 2026 consensus overhaul.
Solana is crushing the competition in key blockchain metrics just weeks before its most ambitious upgrade ever.
Data from Nansen reveals Solana processed over 1.7 billion transactions in the past 30 days, more than all other top chains combined. Ethereum managed just 53 million during the same period, while BNB Chain recorded 483 million.
The dominance extends to decentralized exchange activity. Solana's DEX volume hit $117 billion, dwarfing Ethereum's $40 billion and BSC's $46 billion combined. Network fees tell a similar story: Solana generated $15 million over 30 days compared to Ethereum's $10.6 million.
Staking metrics further highlight the gap. Solana's reward rate averages 6.20% with 68% of tokens staked, while Ethereum offers 2.85% yields with only 29% participation.
These metrics arrive at a critical moment. The Alpenglow upgrade, approved by 98% of Solana validators in September 2025, is scheduled for deployment this quarter. The consensus overhaul will replace Solana's proof-of-history and Tower BFT mechanisms with Votor and Rotor, two new protocols designed for unprecedented speed.
Block finality will drop from 12.8 seconds to 100-150 milliseconds. Maximum throughput could jump from 65,000 to 107,000 transactions per second, while validator operating costs are expected to fall by 50%.
The upgrade's testnet performance has been promising, but some security experts caution that faster finality may introduce tradeoffs. Network stability during the mainnet transition will be closely watched. If successful, Alpenglow could cement Solana's position as the go-to chain for high-frequency DeFi and tokenized assets.
With dominant on-chain activity and a major upgrade imminent, Solana is positioning itself for what could be a defining quarter in its evolution.
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