The gap in monthly trading volume between Ethereum and Solana's DEXs narrows to the lowest level in nearly 12 months

Mars Finance News, May 13. Over the past few months, the gap between Solana and Ethereum in monthly DEX transaction volume has narrowed significantly. Solana’s trading-volume ratio relative to Ethereum has dropped to about 94%, reaching a 12-month low, reversing from the 218% peak in January 2026. Currently, both major blockchain networks each process about $45 billion in monthly DEX transaction volume—nearly on par.

Ethereum’s relative resilience during this period comes from its different transaction-volume composition: deeper liquidity pools, stablecoin trading pairs, and DeFi activity, which perform more steadily when speculative sentiment cools. The near parity between the two provides new opportunities for both chains to compete for trading volume as on-chain activity starts to recover.

Solana’s bullish thesis lies in its low-fee, high-throughput architecture, which is naturally suited to retail-driven activity and the revival of Meme coins or AI agent narratives; while Ethereum’s advantages lie in its substantial total value locked, institutional familiarity, and the quality of its transaction-volume composition. Of note is whether Solana’s transaction-volume bottom can hold at the current level or continue to compress. If it stabilizes here, while Bitcoin’s dominant position begins to soften, it could become an early signal for speculative capital to re-enter—potentially making Solana, backed by its retail base, the first beneficiary.