The Solana network’s effort to recover from its stained reputation by the FTX debacle is finally paying off. Many users are joining the layer-1 blockchain, as current market data reveals a massive 600% jump in active wallet owners within the ecosystem in just two years.
Solana Wallets Soars by 600%
Blockchain analytics platform Top Ledger tracked Solana’s performance from May 2021 till date. The study shows that approximately 21.2 million wallets were created in the Solana community between May 2021 and May 2023. Active wallets grew from 560,000 in May 2021 to 3.74 million in May 2023.
Source: Top Ledger
As shown in the chart above, most of these metrics were derived in May 2023 alone. Impressively, three million wallets were created in that month alone.
Why the Sudden Increase?
The Solana ecosystem had a deep affiliation with the now-defunct crypto exchange FTX. At the time of the exchange’s collapse in November 2022, several projects, including Solana, were affected. This caused a mass exodus of users and projects from the blockchain. The network’s native cryptocurrency, SOL, dipped to as low as $8 at the time.
However, as the months went by, the blockchain started to recover from its lows, regaining users’ confidence. In mid-April, for example, leading investment platform Grayscale unlocked its Solana Trust (GSOL) on the over-the-counter market, allowing retail users to access the Solana-based product.
The sudden spike in engagement with the Solana network can be attributed to several factors. Solana’s decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible token (NFT) ecosystems rose exponentially around May 2023. For example, Solana leading decentralized exchange (DEX) aggregator Jupiter attained a new milestone of over $4 billion in trading volume.
Also, as Solana opened the way for AI projects to utilize its $10 million funding program through the Solana Foundation in that same month, the blockchain likely saw increasing engagement with its platform.
Meanwhile, SOL’s price continues to trade around $21, representing over 92% decrease from its all-time high.
