Top leaders and the Solana community have looked back on the 5-year development journey of this blockchain.
Solana celebrates its 5th birthday amid a decline in network activity
March 16, 2025 marks 5 years since the first block was recorded on the Solana (SOL) blockchain, marking the birth of the world's fourth largest layer-1 at the time of writing.
Solana has gone through many ups and downs since its launch in 2020, with the biggest shock being the collapse of FTX in November 2022, which severely impacted one of the project's largest investors, Alameda Research, due to the bankruptcy spiral of FTX.
Since then, the price of SOL has plummeted, falling below $10, causing many investors to doubt the future of the network. However, the Solana team has persisted in developing and making a remarkable comeback in 2024 and early 2025. SOL has reached a new ATH of $270 before adjusting to the current $128.
SOL price movements since launch, screenshot taken on CoinGecko at 11:25 AM on 03/17/2025
Solana's recovery was sparked by a wave of massive airdrops from major projects, a series of important network upgrades, and especially the memecoin craze that helped this blockchain maintain its appeal and become one of the most vibrant ecosystems for over a year.
Solana's X channel has shared impressive on-chain statistics after 5 years of operation, with 408 billion transactions, 1,300 validators, and over $987 billion in trading volume processed on the DEXes in this Layer-1 ecosystem.
Happy 5th birthday Solana fam! 🥳
— Solana (@solana) March 16, 2025
408+ billion transactions.
1,300+ validators.
$987+ billion volume.
Thank you to all the relentless founders, devs, and nCMOs around the globe who have made Solana what it is today — 5 years in, we're just getting started 🎊 pic.twitter.com/p89PynhjpJ
On the occasion of Solana's 5th anniversary since the creation of the genesis block, the founders, community, and influential figures in the ecosystem have shared their congratulations and reminiscences about the development journey of this blockchain.
Solana Labs co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko expressed his joy with a simple but meaningful message on X: "Happy Solana 0 block day to all those who celebrate!"
Happy solana 0 block day to all those who celebrate!
— toly 🇺🇸 (@aeyakovenko) March 16, 2025
https://t.co/y1S1OBuYiJ
Meanwhile, Georgios Konstantopoulos, CTO of Paradigm, shared an old message from 2019 with Anatoly Yakovenko. At the time, Yakovenko had personally invited him to operate a validator for the Solana network and even sent hardware to support him. However, Georgios had declined due to insufficient network conditions.
https://t.co/398XRpSUiW pic.twitter.com/To8e7irrZA
— Georgios Konstantopoulos (@gakonst) March 16, 2025
After 5 years, with Solana's explosive development, this may be one of Paradigm's CTO's most regrettable decisions.
Solana co-founder Raj Gokal also did not forget to share the challenges of launching this network. He recalled the turbulent context in March 2020 when Solana was officially deployed:
"Solana launched right as the world was going into COVID-19 lockdowns, the stock market was seeing its largest drop since 1987. Investors were calling every company demanding layoffs. Most other crypto projects were canceling launches. If we could get Solana off the ground then, you can launch anything now!"
solana launched 5 years ago today:
— raj 🖤 (@rajgokal) March 16, 2025
- covid lockdowns were rolling across the world
- stock market just had the largest drop since 1987
- investors called every portco to call for layoffs
- every other launch in crypto was cancelled
if we could launch then, you can launch now
The CTO of the Espresso project also reminisced about the early days of Solana, when the blockchain was still in the experimental phase under the name Loom.
I remember when Solana was Loom 🖤 https://t.co/oPdVYD0qqN pic.twitter.com/5wmEMS77zv
— jill | espresso ☕ (@jillrgunter) March 16, 2025
Accompanying this is an image from Solana's initial technical documentation, introducing a high-performance blockchain with 710,000 TPS, using Proof of History (PoH) - an idea that later became the core foundation of Solana. These were the first steps when Anatoly Yakovenko and his team were still searching for the right direction before finally shaping Solana as we know it today.
Although Solana has made tremendous strides over the past 5 years, recent on-chain metrics have shown a significant decline in network activity since November 2024. The number of active addresses on Solana has been decreasing monthly, and if this trend continues, March 2025 may record a lower number of active addresses than February.
Statistics on the number of active wallet addresses on Solana. Source: The Block (March 17, 2025)
The main reason is the cooling down of pump.fun, a meme coin issuance platform that once drove transactions on Solana. However, after a series of meme coin scandals, pump.fun has lost the attention of the community. In particular, the live streaming feature of this project was exploited, turning this platform into a "darkweb" on the blockchain. Additionally, the LIBRA meme coin scandal involving the President of Argentina has caused many investors to be confused as meme coins have gradually lost their core value, from interesting community experiments to a manipulated market.
In the context of Solana's network activity slowing down, this ecosystem is awaiting a breakthrough in technology called Firedancer - a high-performance Solana client developed by Jump Crypto. This is not just an upgrade, but a strategic solution that will significantly increase Solana's processing speed, improve stability, and enhance the resilience of the network.
Currently, Solana only operates based on a single client, the Solana Labs Validator, making the network completely dependent on one development party. The launch of Firedancer will help strengthen the decentralization and resilience of the system. This new client is designed to help Validators optimize transaction processing performance, delivering superior efficiency compared to the current versions.
This is not just a simple upgrade, but a key that will help Solana usher in a new era with the goal of improving processing capabilities, enhancing stability, and eliminating the risk of downtime, which is expected to help Solana attract a significant number of users.
The testing process began in September 2024 with the deployment of the first testnet version, along with a mainnet trial called Frankendancer. Initially, Firedancer was expected to be launched in Q2 2024, but due to the prolonged optimization process, Helius co-founder Mert Memtaz estimated that Firedancer could officially go live by the end of Q2 2025.
2025 solana predictions:
— mert | helius.dev (@0xMert_) December 19, 2024
1) firedancer will go live end of Q2
2) socialFi will be the main narrative
3) there will be an outage
4) big rally will happen heading into december 2025
5) block limits will double
6) SOL ETF will go live in Q4
7) there will be a big airdrop…
In addition to Firedancer, an important milestone that Solana is aiming for is the ability to become the first altcoin to have an approved ETF, following the success of Bitcoin ETF and Ethereum ETF. If realized, this would be a major breakthrough, bringing Solana closer to institutional capital and enhancing its position in the traditional financial system.
Currently, many asset management companies have filed for Solana ETF approval and have been accepted by the SEC. Analysts estimate that Solana, Litecoin, Dogecoin, and XRP are the most likely altcoins to be granted ETF approval in 2024. If approved, Solana will not only expand its influence to major investment funds, but also help strengthen the legitimacy and transparency of SOL in the eyes of lawmakers and the global financial market.
However, the likelihood of a Solana ETF being approved is still a big question mark. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has long maintained the view that many altcoins are securities and is still delaying the approval of numerous crypto-related ETF applications. However, the agency has made significant changes under the leadership of Acting Chair Mark Uyeda. The SEC has undertaken important policy reforms in the crypto space, including the establishment of a dedicated crypto unit led by Commissioner Hester Peirce, changes in senior personnel, the creation of a fraud monitoring division related to crypto and AI, as well as the withdrawal of controversial regulations that prevented banks from custodying digital assets.
Additionally, the SEC has dismissed numerous lawsuits targeting crypto companies, a move that the investment community sees as a positive sign of a more relaxed policy. These changes have led many to believe that a new crypto ETF could soon be approved, and Solana has a strong chance of becoming the top candidate in the next wave of ETF approvals.
Compiled by Coin68
