- Solana processed around 637 million transactions last week per Chainspect data, dwarfing Ethereum’s 15 million on L1, thanks to sub-cent fees and memecoin frenzy.
- High-velocity trading in assets like PUNCH and WIF drives Solana’s dominance, with SOL near $84 and a $48B market cap positioning it as the retail settlement king.
- ETH’s low L1 count masks massive L2 activity on Base and Arbitrum post-Dencun; it focuses on high-value DeFi settlement with strong ETF inflows.
Ethereum has been the most favored blockchain in terms of transactions since its inception, taking the crown of the most used Layer 1 chain. According to the latest data from Chainspect, there is a massive disparity in network activity for the last seven days, where Solana has dominated Ethereum by recording a vastly high number of transactions.
The sub-cent transaction costs and a vast retail ecosystem are some reasons that allowed Solana to process a staggering 637 million transactions over the last week. In comparison, Ethereum recorded just 15 million transactions during the same time period. Interestingly, the community is split on whether the levels of activity recorded are the new standard for the Layer 1s in the future.
Solana Shines With Velocity
The credit for Solana’s mind-blowing transaction count is the sustained “agent economy” and the 2026 memecoin frenzy. Projects like PUNCH and WIF have evolved beyond mere jokes into high-frequency trading assets, with SOL’s hybrid Proof-of-History (PoH) mechanism allowing the network to handle thousands of transactions per second. This low-barrier entry has turned Solana into the “primary settlement layer” for retail speculators who are deterred by even the reduced gas fees on other chains.
With a market capitalization holding steady at approximately $48 billion and SOL trading near the $83.85 mark, the network is effectively prioritizing horizontal scaling. The ability to process hundreds of millions of weekly transactions without significant congestion despite concerns over validator centralization has made it the undisputed home for high-frequency trading, gaming, and real-time payment applications. For many, the 637 million figure is a testament to SOL’s goal of becoming the “Nasdaq of Blockchains.”
Ethereum Suffers Layer 2 Migration Effect
ETH’s 15 million weekly transactions might look like a network in decline, but the reality is more nuanced. Following the 2024 Dencun upgrade and the 2026 “Biannual Upgrade” cycle, Ethereum has successfully transitioned into a Layer 2-centric architecture. High-velocity retail traffic has largely migrated to rollups such as Base, Arbitrum, and Optimism, where “blob-based” data availability has slashed costs by 90%.
ETH Layer 1 has evolved into the “backbone” of decentralized finance with a high-security, high-value settlement layer rather than a high-volume playground. While its transaction count is low, the Total Value Locked (TVL) and institutional trust remain concentrated on the mainnet. With $1.2 billion in weekly ETF inflows recorded earlier this month, ETH is prioritizing its role as a premium institutional reserve asset over raw transaction numbers.
Future Outlook for SOL & ETH
Taking SOL into focus, the high transaction volume generates consistent fee revenue, though the low cost per transaction means the network relies on sheer scale to maintain its economic floor. In the case of Ethereum, the migration to L2s has significantly reduced the ETH burn rate on the mainnet, leading to a “value capture” challenge. As L1 fees stay low (currently between $0.18 and $0.50), the deflationary pressure that once drove ETH price action has softened.
If the Solana network can maintain its 500M+ weekly transaction pace while continuing to attract institutional stablecoin settlements, the “utility floor” for SOL will likely rise. A breakout above the current structural resistance could see the asset testing the $120 milestone as the retail-led activity begins to translate into massive fee-based demand.
For ETH, the focus is not on the 15 million L1 transactions, but on the tens of thousands of transactions per second being achieved across its L2 ecosystem. If the “Biannual Upgrades” continue to lower the cost of L2-to-L1 settlement, the economic activity from the rollups will eventually feed back into the mainnet’s security budget, potentially driving ETH toward the $3,500 region in the second half of the year.
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