Solana, a popular blockchain network, has seen a significant increase in monthly active addresses, surpassing 100 million. However, despite this growth, data from Artemis Terminal reveals that over 86 million wallets on the network remain empty, sparking concerns about the authenticity of user engagement metrics. This surge in active addresses stems from just 509,000 recorded at the beginning of 2024, raising questions about the true level of user interest in Solana.
Further analysis using the Solana analytics tool Hello Moon shows that the majority of wallets on the network have either held no SOL or very small amounts. Around 15.1 million wallets had less than 1 SOL, while approximately 1.5 million contained less than 10 SOL. This has led to doubts about whether these active wallets actually represent genuine user engagement with the network. Despite the empty wallets, Solana has still seen growth in other metrics, such as the creation of SPL tokens and new accounts.
Following a slowdown in September, Solana experienced a significant increase in the daily addition of SPL tokens, with at least 17,000 new tokens being created each day since September 26. SPL tokens are the standard token for Solana, akin to Ethereum’s ERC-20 tokens. Additionally, on October 8, Solana saw over 10 million new accounts being created, more than double the previous day. However, critics have raised concerns that bots may be responsible for artificially inflating these wallet numbers rather than genuine user activity on the network.
As of October 9, Solana ranks as the third-largest blockchain for DeFi, with a total value locked (TVL) of $5.41 billion, trailing behind Ethereum’s $44.7 billion. Despite its position as a major Layer-1 network with high transaction speeds and low costs, Solana faces increasing competition from other scalable Layer-1 networks such as the Sui Network. Analysts suggest that Sui’s architecture and upcoming game console release could potentially rival Solana in terms of performance and user engagement, posing a challenge to Solana’s dominance in the space.
With the growing number of wallets on the Solana network, the key challenge lies in converting these figures into meaningful user engagement. The discrepancy between the high number of active addresses and the significant portion of empty wallets raises concerns about the true level of real user activity on Solana. As the network continues to evolve and face competition from other Layer-1 networks, it will be crucial for Solana to focus on increasing genuine user engagement and ensuring that its metrics accurately reflect the level of activity on the network.
