CoinDesk 2025-08-13 15:39:33

Institutional Frenzy Pushes Ethereum DEX Volumes Above Solana

Decentralized exchange (DEX) volumes on Ethereum have leapfrogged Solana for the first time since April after a swift shift in sentiment away from Solana-based memecoins and towards ether ETH amid a wave of institutional activity. Over the past 48 hours Ethereum-based DEXs have facilitated $24.5 billion in trading volume compared to Solana's tally of $10 billion, according to DefiLlama. The two weeks prior were also dominated by Ethereum, with a total of $28 billion and $27 billion beating Solana's total of $20 billion and $24 billion. This represents a contrast in trader behavior from earlier this year, which was dominated by Solana and BNB Chain in a wave of speculative memecoin trading. However, institutional flows into spot ether ETFs has buoyed the second largest cryptocurrency, lifting it to $4,680 this month after a 53% gain over the past 30 days. Coinglass data shows that Monday's net inflows to ETFs topped $1 billion for the first time ever, this was followed by more relentless buying on Tuesday with another $523 million inflow. Solana, meanwhile, appears to have lost its magic in the second quarter of this year. In January, for example, DEX volumes topped $98 billion in one week and $84 billion in the next. That hype subsided after U.S. President Donald Trump released the TRUMP memecoin, which ultimately lost more than 88% of its value over the subsequent seven months, a moment that obliterated investor confidence in memecoins. Uniswap remains the most commonly used DEX on Ethereum with $8.6 billion being traded over the past 24 hours, the next best being Fluid, which topped $1 billion during the same period. The change in behavior could bode well for Ethereum-based staking tokens, which experienced a boost following SEC clarification last week. Tokens like LDO , the governance token of liquid staking protocol Lido are up by 65% over the past week.