Solana was one of the blockchains with more progression during 2021, generating an important repercussion in the crypto world that led it to be among the most used and known blockchians in the world, allowing a rise of its native SOL token that led it to the highest positions in Coinmarketcap.

However, last year 2022 was not the best year for cryptos as we experienced a crypto winter and with it, a significant drop not only in the price of Bitcoin but also in the cryptomarket in general. Apart from the prices, the activities on the networks also dropped as a result of people losing interest as they realised that the cryptowinter was not over. In addition, at the end of the year the news from Alameda Research that they have tried to buy the FTT tokens available on Binance but Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) isn't interested in selling his company's FTX Tokens in an OTC deal with Alameda, led him to bankruptcy and with it he took SOL with him, as it was one of the tokens that the company was most interested in and he wanted to sell it by selling Solana.

After this, Solana was losing ground and its activity dropped considerably, as did its price. But... what has become of Solana since then? How has it evolved since then?

The main objective of this analysis is to give an overview of the evolution of Solana since FTX, which was a turning point for Solana.

Thus, the idea is to compare past and present activity in niches across the chain like DeFi, NFTs, developer activity, etc, in order to see if Solana has recovered after these bad events or not.

For this, we will look at what trends do we notice some differences or some activity increasing/decreasing consistently. Furthermore, we will compare the DeFi activity against Ethereum, the maximum Solana competitor.

\n The idea is to explore if the activity increased or decreased and also try to find some possible factor, dApp or whatever that may be the generated some differences between past and present. Take into account that in this case, the last month of 2022 has been chosen as a past period and the first month of 2023 has been chosen as a present period.

The main metrics evaluated are:

• Defi events both global and by platform (analysis at the end)
• Defi active and new users both global and by platform (analysis at the end)
• Staking events
• Number of stakers
• Transfers from and to CEX
• Transferers and receptors to/from CEX
• NFT activity both mints and sales
• Development activity both deploys and upgrades

In this first charts we can see the global DeFi activity. In blue we have the data from the last 2022 month, and in orange the first month of 2023.

In the first chart we can see how the events started to increase just after the start of the year, passing from around 2M to above 10M, reaching almost 15M daily during the past weeks. The amount of users interacting with DeFi platforms spiked during the present days after the market turned bullish and passed from around 15k users to almost 90k users. However, the amount started to decrease during the second half of January. Even though, the numbers are still 2x higher from the past period.

DeFi activity analysis

If we take a look at the numbers by platforms, we can see how the main cause of the increase of the activity is due to the activity on Jupiter.

On the one hand, the amount of events on Jupiter has increased from around 1M to more than 10M. Something similar has occurred with the major top platforms but in a lower scale. The numbers are also high in the number of active users but the difference between periods is not that much.

In the chart on the left, we can see that the red part practically has been null over the past period. However, we can see how other platforms have been also affected and their activity also increased, during the present period.

Staking activity analysis

Considering the staking activity, we can see how in terms of actions the situation is clear. The activity has increased a little bt over the present eperiod. The number in this sector are closer, but the average of present period is still higher than in the past period. If we consider the averages of each metric, we can see how in the case of daily average transactions, it has increased from 1.3k to more than 1.4k, while the amount of average users also increased from 1k to almost 1.2k.

Here the question is… are users delegating or undelegating during these days when the activity has spiked? Looking at the current uptrend market and the increased on the SOL price, we can corroborate that what has happened here is that the panic just after the FTX has been blurred and the delegating activiy spiked.

Transfers from/to CEX

In this section, there is a comparison between the activity from and to CEX during past and present periods. In both cases, we can see a heavy increase on the transfers activity during the present days. So we can corroborate that since 2023, the activity on the CEX has increased.

Looking at the average numbers, it is clear that we are at a positive moment for Solana, because of more transfers are coming from CEX than exiting, generating a difference in transfers of an average of 36k transfers coming to CEX vs 24k transfers going to CEX. These numbers are higher than the past period, in which there was an average of 24k transfers from CEX and 15k transfers to CEX.

Key insights

• The DeFi events started to increase just after the start of the year, passing from around 2M to above 10M, reaching almost 15M daily during the past weeks. The amount of users interacting with DeFi platforms spiked during the present days after the market turned bullish and passed from around 15k users to almost 90k users.
• The main cause of the increase of the activity is due to the activity on Jupiter, which number of events has increased from around 1M to more than 10M.
• The staking activity has increased a little bt over the present period.
• The transfers from and to CEX had a heavy increase activity during the present days.
• Regarding the NFT activity, we can also see some increase in the activity during the present period in comparison to the past one. In terms of mints and sales, both have been increased during the past weeks. Something similar occurred with the number of minters and buyers.
• There is an uptrend in both active programs deployed and upgraded over time, so looking at the average amounts per period, the present averages are higher.
• The new programs had an important downtrend during the past period, and the situation was difficult to revert, but finally seems that during the present period the challenge was achieved. However, looking at the cumulaitve and average numbers, the new programs have been lower during the present period.
• The amount of DeFi transactions are so higher on Solana in comparison to Ethereum chain.
• While Ethereum daily average DeFi transactions increased around 5%, Solana DeFi transactions increased more than 5x.
• While Ethereum was higher numbers during the past period, Solana surpassed Ethereum in numbers during the present period momentanily, but are at similar levels.
• Ethereum doens’t show so much difference between period being steady at 32k daily users in average, while Solana passed from 15k to 40k surpassing Ethereum in average.
• Solana daily new users remained higher than Ethereum ones once Solana surpassed Ethereum.
• During the past period, a total of around 80k users joined Solana while more than 170k Ethereum, However, during the present period Solana was able to attracted almost 390k users while Ethereum only 173k. Then, while Solana has grown more than 200% in this case, Ethereum only increased 1%.

Overview

Methods

NFT activity

Regarding the NFT activity, we can also see some increase in the activity during the present period in comparison to the past one. In terms of mints and sales, both have been increased during the past weeks, passing from an average of 30k daily minst and sales to an average above 40k mints and sales. Something similar occurred with the number of minters and buyers, that passed from 4.5k and 7k respectively to 6.7k and 9.2k.

Finally, looking at the volumes, it can be seen how even the mints had an spike during the last days of the past period, there were several spikes during the present period as well. On the other hand, there was an increase in the volume sold in NFT sales during the first days of 2023. In both metrics, the average has been higher in the present period.

Development activity

The final sector I would like to analyze is the development activity of the blockchain. In this case, I have taken into account the programs deployed and upgraded, as well as the news ones.

On the one hand, it can be seen how there is an uptrend in both active programs deployed and upgraded over time, so looking at the average amounts per period, the present averages are higher.

If we take into account only the unique programs, the situation is similar cause the uptrend still remains and then, the average daily amount per period was still higher during the present period.

Finally, looking at the new programs, we can see how there was an important downtrend during the past period, and the situation was difficult to revert, but finally seems that during the present period the challenge was achieved. However, looking at the cumulaitve and average numbers, the new programs have been lower during the present period.

DeFi activity comparison vs Ethereum

In this final approach, we are gonna compare one of the most significatn and interesting sector against Ethereum, the maximum Solana competitor. The sector chosen has been DeFi, where we are comparing the active users, the DeFi transactions as well as the new DeFi users coming to the platform.

On the one hand, we can see how the amount of DeFi transactions are so higher on Solana in comparison to Ethereum chain. Looking at the growth during the present period, we can see how even both have grown, Solana did it in a higher percentage. While Ethereum daily average DeFi transactions increased around 5%, Solana DeFi transactions increased more than 5x. On the other hand, there has been a huge difference in the DeFi active users trend lines. While Ethereum was higher numbers during the past period, Solana surpassed Ethereum in numbers during the present period momentanily, but are at similar levels. In terms of difference between past and present period, Ethereum doens’t show so much difference being steady at 32k daily users in average, while Solana passed from 15k to 40k surpassing Ethereum in average.

Finally, looking at the new users joining the DeFi ecosystem in each blockchain, it can be seen something similar than in the previous user metric, however, in this case the situation seems more clear because of Solana daily new users remained higher than Ethereum ones once Solana surpassed Ethereum. In this case, we can see how during the past period, a total of around 80k users joined Solana while more than 170k Ethereum, However, during the present period Solana was able to attracted almost 390k users while Ethereum only 173k. Then, while Solana has grown more than 200% in this case, Ethereum only increased 1%.