Decentralized exchanges on the Solana blockchain have set a new monthly record for trading volume, surpassing $60.34 billion in March, based on DeFiLlama data.
This achievement more than doubles the previous record of nearly $28.14 billion from December 2023 and is the second-highest volume of all blockchains — surpassed only by Ethereum’s $77.55 billion during the month.
BSC boasted the third-highest DEX trading volume at $47.81 billion, while the fourth spot went to Arbitrum’s $27.74 billion. Notably, the trading volume on BASE grew almost 7x during the month to $7.8 billion.
Memecoin frenzy
The surge in trading volume aligns with a significant interest in memecoins within the Solana ecosystem, highlighted by notable performers like Dogwifhat (WIF) and Bonk (BONK), alongside newer entrants such as Book of Meme (BOME) and Slerf (SLERF).
Meme coins related to political figures like Donald Trump and Joe Biden also experienced gains in March.
Other meme coins on Solana, such as Popcat (POPCAT), also saw significant increases, with a 45% rise to a price above $0.33.
Despite the typical volatility of the meme coin market, Dogwifhat closed March up by 43.9%, and Bonk ended the month with a 1.3% increase.
Leading DEXs
Orca led the Solana DEX space, with a trading volume of $3.6 billion in the past week, followed by Raydium and Phoenix with $1.73 billion and $1.6 billion, respectively.
This period of heightened trading activity has notably benefited Jupiter, a decentralized exchange aggregator on Solana, whose native token JUP rose by 24.9% over the past week.
As meme coins drive buying frenzies on the Solana network, the SOL token itself started April with a 4% decrease in its value over the last 24 hours, currently priced just below $189.
Even with this slight downturn, Solana’s market capitalization hit an all-time high of over $90 billion in March, reflecting the expansive growth and engagement within the decentralized finance sector and the vibrant meme coin market.