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Key Insights:
- Solana reaches an all-time high of 11.16 million wallets holding at least 0.1 SOL.
- Solana tops blockchain revenue charts with $40.29 million in one week.
- Technicals show bullish momentum as SOL eyes a breakout above the $180 resistance.
Solana (SOL) has reached a new user milestone, while network activity and price momentum continue to rise. On-chain data shows more wallet adoption, revenue growth, and strong DEX volume—all pointing toward a potential breakout above $180.
Solana Wallet Growth and User Adoption
As of May 18, 2025, the number of wallets with at least 0.1 SOL has surpassed its previous record and reached 11.16 million. The graph shows that despite recent changes in price, many users are still interested in Solana’s network.
Over a two-week period from May 1 to May 18, the number of wallets increased by over 250,000, bringing the total to 11.16 million.
Despite the price of SOL being between $160 and $180 on that day, the coin closed at $173.43 on May 18. The price fluctuated a bit, yet the rise in wallets shows that both small and new investors are confident.
When active or funded addresses increase, it usually means more people are using or holding cryptocurrency, helping the network and the market.
Having more wallets could encourage more people to use dApps, trading platforms and staking pools. This also shows that Solana is gaining popularity as it makes important updates, including the Alpenglow protocol.
Alpenglow Protocol and Network Upgrade
The developers of Solana are releasing Alpenglow which will replace the current Proof of History and Tower BFT consensus systems. The upgrade comes with Votor for rapid finalization and Rotor for easy data movement.
It takes Votor only 100–150 milliseconds to finalize transactions, while other chains usually take several seconds. It relies on a mixed voting method to ensure transactions are confirmed faster.
Rotor increases the speed of communication by eliminating several relay stages and using direct communication instead of gossip.
Most validators in Zurich have a latency between 100 and 150 milliseconds when running the Alpenglow simulation.
Having validators with 60% of the total stake ensures that the new system is fast and reliable. Latency increases only when the stake reaches 70%, caused by network issues rather than problems with the protocol.
According to Anza, this change might allow the Solana network to process data more quickly and dependably, even in real-time situations.
Transaction Revenue and Ecosystem Usage
Meanwhile, from May 12 to May 18, Solana was the top L1 and L2 network in terms of weekly revenue, earning $40.29 million. It came in higher than Ethereum’s $12.42 million and Tron’s $13.13 million as per Blockworks’ records.
Solana’s network is currently generating more income from transactions than any other network. It proves that the network is busy and is growing in its share of economic activity. Because more revenue draws in more developers and investors, many chains are interested in this.
During that same week, all major chains made around $76.89 million and Solana was responsible for more than half of it. This increase is connected to the growing number of users and the upcoming upgrades for the chain.
DEX Volume and Price Outlook
Additionally, in the past 90 days, Solana’s DEXs had a high number of trades. Raydium was the leader with over $120 billion and SolFi, ZeroFi and Orbic came next with a combined total of $81 billion.
On some days, private AMMs accounted for about 74% of all activity on Solana’s DEX. It is important to note that 80% of their trades involved SOL/USDC pairs, indicating that stablecoin trading on Solana is in high demand.
Looking at the market, Solana is priced at $168.58 after recovering from a recent drop. A clear increase in prices is taking place and the market looks bullish. The price has tested the support at $165 and is now looking at the next resistance point at $180.
A price above $180 might trigger a rise toward $240. The CMF indicator at 0.11 meanwhile, indicates that buyers are stronger than sellers. The Awesome Oscillator (AO) at 14.06 also suggests that the price is likely to rise. The price has not fallen below the upward trendline, so bulls are still in charge.
This zone is crucial, as a price above $180 could lead to increased buying. Chainlink’s CCIP on Solana has recently been introduced, which benefits the DeFi and cross-chain ecosystem. As more systems can connect, there is a greater chance that SOL will be in demand.
Disclaimer
In this article, the views and opinions stated by the author or any people named are for informational purposes only. And they don’t establish the investment, financial, or any other advice. Trading or investing in cryptocurrency assets comes with a risk of financial loss.
