The number of traders on DEX within the Solana network is steadily declining. Analysts attribute this to the increasing instances of fraud in the meme coin segment.
According to Dune, the peak number of daily users in January was 4.8 million. By August, this figure had dropped to 900,000.
The number of daily transactions on decentralized exchanges has also decreased. In June, it reached 45 million, but now it is less than 30 million.
Bitget’s chief analyst Ryan Lee believes that one reason for the decline in activity is the increased number of rug pulls associated with “funny coins.” According to him, Solana’s reliance on “volatile meme coin activity could undermine the ecosystem’s sustainable growth.”
In August, hackers breached the Instagram accounts of several celebrities, including singers Adele and Tyla, as well as Michael Jackson’s heirs. Through their profiles, the perpetrators promoted fraudulent tokens based on Solana.
Michael Jackson, Future, Tyla, and Adele’s Instagram accounts were hacked simultaneously pic.twitter.com/MCMPcU41Ww
— NFR Lite (@NFR_Lite) August 22, 2025
A similar incident occurred with the CR7 coin, allegedly linked to footballer Cristiano Ronaldo. Minutes after being posted on the athlete’s page, the asset’s capitalization reached $143 million, after which insiders drained all liquidity.
On August 27, cybercriminals hacked Kanye West to promote the fake meme coin YZY. This led to a drop in the rapper’s official token by more than 80%.
Competition
Lee also noted that the decline in activity on Solana DEX might be linked to increased competition from other blockchains.
The network is attracting more institutional investors and other major players, while the number of retail traders is decreasing. Without expanding beyond meme coins, it will be challenging to compete with the broader DeFi ecosystem on Ethereum.
At the beginning of the year, Solana’s DEX volume share was 76%. As of August 28, it had dropped to 26%.
Pump.fun Regains Leadership
Amid the overall decline in activity on Solana, the metrics for the meme coin generation platform Pump.fun continue to grow.
The platform’s trading volume exceeded $210 million in the past 24 hours, with a market share reaching 86%. Since its launch, cumulative revenue has surpassed $800 million.
In the past two weeks, Pump.fun also repurchased PUMP tokens worth $15 million. Over the month, the coin’s rate increased by 38.4% to $0.003 at the time of writing.
On August 8, the platform launched the Glass Full Foundation. The initiative aims to develop the meme coin ecosystem on Solana.