Solana may underperform Ethereum as memecoin demand declines

Layer-1 blockchain Solana may be evolving into a “one-trick pony” for memecoin generation and trading, according to a recent Standard Chartered report.

According to a May 27 Standard Chartered research report shared with Cointelegraph, Solana “dominates in areas that demand high-volume, low-transaction-cost solutions” due to its design prioritizing fast and cheap transaction confirmation. The report suggested this has had an unintended consequence:

“So far, this has been mostly in memecoin trading, which accounts for the majority of activity on Solana (as measured by ‘GDP’, which is application revenue).”

Standard Chartered said the memecoin frenzy served as a stress test for Solana’s scalability but came with drawbacks due to the volatility and speculative nature of such assets. As memecoin trading volumes decline, the bank warned that Solana may struggle to maintain momentum.

Memecoin trading passed its peak

The report said Solana-based memecoin activity is past its peak, and “declining usage and trading ‘cheap’ are not a good mix.” The bank suggested that Solana should expand into other sectors that require processing large volumes of transactions cheaply and quickly.

Per the report, those sectors could include high-throughput financial apps and traditional consumer apps such as social media. Still, scaling such applications may take years, according to the bank, with dire consequences for Solana:

“As a result, we expect Solana to underperform Ethereum over the next two to three years, before catching up, at least in real terms.”

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Solana’s edge is fading

Solana has long positioned itself as a fast and inexpensive layer-1 blockchain with smart contract support, competing directly with Ethereum. However, that edge may be narrowing.

Ethereum layer-2 platforms have caught up with Solana in terms of average transaction cost since the Dencun network upgrade in March 2024. This shift has put pressure on Solana’s value proposition as the cheapest high-throughput blockchain. Standard Chartered acknowledged that Ethereum’s modular design, which separates data availability, execution and consensus, has allowed it to scale more efficiently while preserving decentralization:

“The modular approach allows Ethereum to scale transactions at a low cost (post-Dencun upgrade) while maintaining the security benefits of a highly decentralised mainnet blockchain.”

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