Solana has been the clear leader in terms of revenue among all blockchain ecosystems, even surpassing Ethereum and Tron. For one, the financial success as well as the robust decentralized application (DApp) activity is remarkable. The ecosystem’s native token, SOL, has been unable to retake the $180 resistance level. The network's design choices, while fostering an integrated user experience, have led to high activity concentration and transaction failures, raising concerns among some institutional investors.

Jito, has 17.92 million SOL in total value locked (TVL). Jito’s TVL has skyrocketed by 12% since the beginning of January. This growth clearly demonstrates the market’s growing confidence in its MEV-optimized staking and integrated decentralized finance services.

Revenue and Staking Dominance

$271.8 million in revenue In Q2 2025, Solana already overtook Tron and Ethereum as the biggest blockchain by revenue. This figure is 64% higher than Tron's revenue and more than double Ethereum’s $129.1 million. Solana’s achievement marks the third-quarter in a row that it has outpaced all other blockchains in network revenue, a clear indication of Solana’s rapidly growing economic activity.

The most important factor underpinning Solana’s price strength is its high staking ratio. As with Ethereum, the staking reduces the available supply on exchanges, and right now, 66.5% of all SOL tokens are staked. To put it in comparison, under 30% of ether is currently staked on Ethereum with a 58% staking rate for Cardano’s ADA.

More than $460 million in fees have been spent by users of Solana’s DApp ecosystem over the last 30 days. This unprecedented level of activity is a testament to the usefulness of the network and the widespread adoption.

Technical Challenges and Market Sentiment

SOL has had a hard time breaking above $180 since the end of May. SOL perpetual futures funding rate trending negative, meaning short (sell) positions are more popular. That is an indication that speculators are wagering on the absence of a sharp price uptick in the short run.

According to some thought leaders, Solana’s architectural choices reflect a focus on a cohesive UX. Productivity paradox Yet, this focus has led to negative consequences such as excessive transaction concentration and disastrous deals. These challenges, it seems have left institutional players leery of Solana too, especially when it comes to concerns around maximum extractable value (MEV).

Solana’s high concentration of activity and failed transaction queue are the byproducts of some intentional design choices. Notwithstanding these issues, the network’s user experience is much more cohesive, a big point of pride that has truly endured.

Jito's Role and Institutional Concerns

Jito offers MEV-optimized staking and integrated DeFi services. Jito's growth reflects the increasing sophistication of Solana's DeFi ecosystem.

Tight design choices in Solana’s architecture unnecessarily force high concentration of activity and amplify the number of failed transactions. This has spooked many institutional investors. The TRON network does have some impressive looking revenue figures and a very high staking ratio. Solving these technical challenges is key to drawing in a greater share of institutional capital.