What’s Holding Growth Back? 3 Reasons SOL Is Still Lagging

A recent report highlighted three major reasons Solana (SOL) has struggled to keep pace with Ethereum (ETH), at least from a market performance perspective that goes beyond day-to-day price movements. 

Market expert Dominic Basulto from The Motley Fool pointed to factors that, in his view, have shaped investor sentiment and affected Solana’s momentum in key areas.

The Meme Coin Hangover

One of the most important drivers, Basulto said, is how many investors still associate Solana with the meme coin craze of 2024. During that period, Solana became the preferred destination for people minting and trading meme coins, and the conversation frequently included the idea of a “meme coin supercycle.” 

At its high point, the meme coin market was valued at around $150 billion. Today, Basulto said the segment is worth less than $40 billion, and many individual meme coins are still far below their 2024 highs. 

For some investors, according to the expert, the connection between Solana and that hype cycle never fully faded, which may have contributed to lingering hesitation toward the network.

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A second explanation involves Solana’s attempt to build a mobile-first crypto ecosystem—and the belief that it never took off as its early ambitions suggested. 

Back in June 2022, Solana announced the launch of a mobile device called Saga, along with a broader mobile strategy. Basulto noted that the Saga was positioned as a breakthrough, but at a price of $999, it struggled to compete with mainstream smartphones. 

While Solana later introduced a cheaper alternative, the bigger idea of creating a mobile crypto environment did not seem to catch on with investors or consumers at the scale required to create a sustained advantage.

Solana ETF Momentum Falls Short

The third reason Basulto raised centers on Solana exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and the expectation that they would draw in a meaningful wave of institutional interest. 

He noted that eight spot Solana ETFs are now trading in the US, but they have not achieved the momentum seen with spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs, which launched in January 2024. 

The rollout of spot Solana ETFs was widely viewed as a potential catalyst—something that could bring more institutional capital into the space. 

Instead, Basulto said Solana ETF momentum has remained limited. He estimated that total assets under management (AUM) for spot Solana ETFs are currently about $1.1 billion, which contrasts sharply with spot Bitcoin ETFs that reportedly pulled in $100 billion in less than 12 months.

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Even so, Basulto’s overall conclusion was not pessimistic. He argued that Solana may still represent a stronger long-term investment compared with Ethereum, based on what he described as a visible shift in Solana’s direction. 

In his view, Solana is pivoting away from meme coins and moving toward stablecoins, while also strengthening its presence in decentralized finance (DeFi).

Basulto added that Solana remains faster and cheaper than Ethereum, and that these advantages could keep drawing developers and users toward Solana over time.

At the time of writing, SOL was trading at around $86, with losses recorded across all time frames, amounting to a 51% drop year-to-date (YTD). Meanwhile, ETH was trading just above $2,100, also recording losses across all time frames and a YTD drawdown of 20%. 

Featured image created with OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com