Solana Adds Over 1 Billion Dollars Worth of Stablecoins in December

The Solana network has seen a significant increase in stablecoin adoption in December, with over $1 billion in total value locked (TVL) in the form of USDC. This growth highlights the accelerating trend of stablecoin adoption and the rising prominence of Solana in decentralized finance (DeFi).

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Stablecoin Adoption Accelerates

The data from DefiLlama shows that Solana now hosts approximately $5 billion in stablecoin TVL, with nearly $4 billion comprising USDC. Tether’s USDt is Solana’s second most popular stablecoin, with a TVL of around $1 billion.

Market Capitalization Growth

As of December 31, the total market capitalizations of USDT and USDC across blockchain networks are approximately $137 billion and $44 billion, respectively. According to CoinGecko, this represents a sharp increase in stablecoin market capitalizations since November. The combined market capitalizations of the top three stablecoins – USDT, USDC, and Dai (DAI) – have collectively grown by more than $25 billion since November.

Impact on DeFi

This growth is bullish for DeFi, as stablecoins are considered the on-ramp to decentralized finance. As Citi Research noted in a December 26 report: "Stablecoins are the on-ramp to decentralized finance." The increasing market capitalizations of top stablecoins will likely fuel further growth in DeFi adoption.

Solana Emerges as Ethereum Challenger

Solana has emerged as a serious challenger to Ethereum in DeFi and other applications requiring smart contracts. Since 2023, SOL has outperformed ETH by approximately 8x, according to data from TradingView. In 2024, Solana’s TVL rose roughly 5x, from around $1.4 billion to over $8.6 billion.

Retail Traders Flock to Solana

The increasing popularity of Solana can be attributed in part to the growing number of retail traders entering the market through Solana-based memecoins and AI agent tokens. Grayscale Research noted in a December 30 report: "Retail traders increasingly enter the crypto market through Solana [as] speculation intensifies around Solana-based memecoins and AI agent tokens."

Grayscale Adds Two Solana-Native DeFi Apps

In December, Grayscale added Jupiter (JUP) and Jito (JTO), two Solana-native DeFi apps, to its list of the top 20 tokens to watch in the first quarter of 2025. Jito, a Solana staking pool, clocked monthly revenues of over $100 million in November and December from priority fees and tips.

Ethereum Still Dominant

However, Ethereum’s stablecoin TVL still greatly surpasses Solana’s, exceeding $110 billion as of December 31. This highlights the continued dominance of Ethereum in DeFi despite the growing popularity of Solana.

Conclusion

The significant increase in stablecoin adoption on Solana is a clear indicator of its rising prominence in DeFi and its potential to challenge Ethereum’s dominance. As the market continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how Solana’s TVL compares to that of Ethereum in the coming months.