Solana’s blockchain ecosystem continues to show unexpected resilience, generating roughly $2.85 billion in revenue over the past year, according to Matt Mena, crypto research strategist at 21Shares.

In a blog post published Monday, Mena highlighted the network’s performance from October 2024 through September 2025, calling the results “remarkably strong” despite the cooling of the speculative memecoin frenzy that drove trading earlier this year.

Mena attributed Solana’s robust revenue to its diverse mix of activity. Decentralized exchanges, trading platforms, lending apps, wallets, and emerging sectors such as DePIN and AI-powered applications all contributed significantly to network fees and usage.

Trading tools like Photon and Axiom were standout performers, generating roughly $1.12 billion—about 39% of total revenue. Still, Mena emphasized that the blockchain’s long-term value lies in its diversity rather than reliance on any single trend.

Even after the peak trading months of late 2024, Solana’s monthly revenue has stabilized between $150 million and $250 million, suggesting sustained demand for blockspace and ongoing activity beyond short-term speculative spikes.

For perspective, Mena compared Solana’s revenue to major Web2 platforms, noting it rivals Palantir’s $2.8 billion and Robinhood’s $2.95 billion in 2024. He also contrasted the network with Ethereum at a similar stage of development, pointing out that four to five years after launch, Ethereum averaged less than $10 million per month in revenue—underscoring Solana’s rapid monetization of on-chain activity.

Mena credited the blockchain’s growth to its high throughput, low transaction fees, and expanding ecosystem. He also highlighted upcoming technical upgrades, including Firedancer and Alpenglow, which aim to enhance speed and scalability and could attract greater institutional participation.

“Solana is no longer an experiment,” Mena wrote. “It’s a functioning digital economy showing real staying power.”