SOL pops to $72 while onchain tells a quieter story 📉

Solana's native token SOL rose to $72 on Friday, recovering from a $64 low the prior day, but onchain metrics pointed to softer underlying demand for the network. Tokenized stock trading on Solana crossed $113 million in 24-hour volume, according to Jupiter Aggregator data, even as liquidity in automated market-making pools remained thin across competing issuers.

The rally coincided with declining fundamentals across Solana's DeFi ecosystem. Total Value Locked (TVL) on the network fell 11% over the past month, according to DefiLlama, while Ethereum layer-2 Base narrowed the gap. Within Solana's TVL, Kamino dropped 19%, Binance Staked SOL fell 20% and Raydium declined 17%; the tokenization platform xStocks posted 31% TVL growth over the same period.

Decentralized exchange activity also cooled. Weekly DEX volumes on Solana slid from $30 billion in early February to roughly $10 billion, tracking a downtrend in decentralized application (DApp) revenues. Of current DApp revenue, 30% came from token launch platform Pump.fun, a figure tied to memecoin activity. A CoinGecko report noted that 80% of the 18.7 million tokens tracked launched in less than 48 hours, while Dune data showed 55% of participating addresses lost up to $1,000.

Bullish positioning returned to SOL perpetual futures on Friday, with the annualized funding rate reaching its highest level in June. The 10% rate remained within the 6% to 12% range typically viewed as neutral, reversing the negative funding environment seen during the drop to $64 on Thursday. The 14% gain from that low marked a sharp reset in derivatives sentiment.

Investor optimism also reflected anticipation of upcoming airdrops on the Solana network, though launch dates have not been confirmed. Highlighted projects include OnRe reinsurance, which reports $200 million in TVL, and Bulk perpetual DEX. Solana captured 95% of tokenized equity trading volume, a metric cited in a separate analysis, as traders continued to weigh whether SOL's recent lows represent a durable bottom.