Author: Kazu Umemoto Source: Bankless Translator: Shan Ouba, Jinse Finance
In 2024, the Ethereum and Solana communities paved new paths in the crypto space.
In many ways, 2024 carried the Bitcoin value narrative to the world - Bitcoin broke through $100,000, ushering in an epic bull run. However, the focus of the crypto industry in 2024 was far beyond just Bitcoin, as the Ethereum and Solana communities achieved tremendous success that year.
Although the two top smart contract platforms still had some internal conflicts at times, 2024 truly showcased the unique strengths of their respective communities. These strengths not only attracted more attention to the crypto space, but also paved the way for the glory of 2025.
Today, we will delve into the pivotal moments in 2024 when Ethereum and Solana drove industry development, as well as the three key trends of these two ecosystems.
Three Trends of Ethereum
1. Ethereum Developers Fighting for the Future of Crypto
In 2024, Ethereum developers bravely stepped up to fight for the future of crypto and DeFi. Facing aggressive regulators, the Ethereum community took the lead in issuing strong statements and targeted lawsuits, trying to counter the long-term suppression of crypto companies.
Institutions like Uniswap, ConsenSys, and Coinbase took the initiative, and early Ethereum KOLs stood up to defend the core values of the crypto industry, challenging Gary Gensler (Chairman of the US SEC), and funding and supporting crypto-friendly political leaders to reshape the political landscape.
In 2024, crypto giants won key battles and accumulated important political capital, ensuring that the values of the crypto industry would no longer be easily trampled upon.
2. Stablecoin Growth Highlights the Value of Cryptocurrencies
In 2024, stablecoins made significant progress in the Ethereum ecosystem. Ethena launched the USDe stablecoin, minting nearly $6 billion in a year. The USDC supply nearly doubled, and the USDT supply grew by more than 50%.
This growth indicates that stablecoins are gradually being seen as reliable financial tools and stores of value. Institutions like BlackRock have entered the stablecoin space, with their BUIDL fund supporting Ethena's USDtb stablecoin. With BlackRock's involvement, more companies may explore the potential of stablecoins in reducing the cost of daily transactions.
3. Ethereum Embarks on "Responsible Scaling" Expansion
Due to the poor performance of ETH prices, the community began to deeply analyze the advantages and disadvantages of Ethereum. The community engaged in heated discussions around the scaling roadmap, with both criticism and defense.
At Bankless, we hosted multiple discussions on scaling:
• Max Resnick shared the dilemma of scaling,
• Justin Drake then showcased the Beam Chain development direction consistent with the roadmap.
But this year was not just about discussions - the Dencun hard fork introduced Blob transactions to reduce L2 transaction costs, allowing L2s to store large amounts of data on the Ethereum mainnet at low cost, making transactions more affordable and attracting more users.
Three Trends of Solana
1. Memecoin Frenzy Attracts Massive Users
In 2024, the memecoin craze attracted millions of users to the Solana chain, with many hoping to get a piece of the next 1000x coin. Pump.fun became a key player in the memecoin frenzy, issuing over 5 million tokens in 2024, accounting for 50% of Solana DEX trading volume. The total trading volume of Solana DEXes reached $990 billion, with memecoins contributing significantly.
Of course, memecoins are not always full of glory: project collapses, insider trading, and celebrity rug pulls are commonplace, and Pump.fun's short-lived live streaming feature also exposed issues with user misconduct.
Nevertheless, Pump.fun remains one of Solana's flagship projects. If the memecoin craze continues in 2025, Solana is poised to attract even more users than in 2024.
2. Developers Flock to the Solana Ecosystem
In 2024, Solana not only attracted new users, but also a large number of developers willing to join the Solana ecosystem. According to the 2024 Electric Capital Developer Report, Solana ranked second globally in developer share, second only to Ethereum. Although Ethereum still dominates the total number of developers, Solana added 1,000 more new developers than Ethereum this year, leading the way in attracting developers. This suggests that the Solana ecosystem may see a new wave of innovation, bringing more vitality to 2025.
3. Institutional Interest Heats Up
Over the past two years, the SOL price has soared over 1700%, and this growth, combined with the launch of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, has sparked market speculation about a Solana ETF.
Grayscale has already filed to convert its Solana trust into a spot ETF. Considering that Grayscale has successfully converted its Bitcoin and Ethereum trusts into ETFs this year, a Solana ETF is just a matter of time. If the Solana ETF is approved, it will provide a convenient investment channel for large institutions and retail investors, changing Solana's image in the crypto industry from just a "memecoin chain" to a trusted ecosystem for millions of users.
Looking Ahead to 2025: A New Narrative
In 2024, the crypto industry welcomed a new narrative.
That year, Ethereum and Solana each displayed unique development trends, not only strengthening their own market positioning, but also jointly driving the grand narrative of "crypto disrupting traditional finance (TradFi)".
Solana, leveraging the memecoin craze, solidified its position in the hearts of retail users, attracting a large number of first-time crypto users. Ethereum, on the other hand, continued to be the mainstay of DeFi (decentralized finance), emphasizing stability and institutional adoption, while actively defending the core values of decentralization within the industry and on the political stage.
Looking ahead to 2025, as anti-crypto forces in the US political arena gradually lose ground and regulations become clearer, the crypto space is poised for explosive growth. Bitcoin's value as "digital gold" has already been accepted by global investors, and the opportunities for Ethereum and Solana are arriving, as they are the key moments to show the world how "internet money" can truly drive the global economy.
