Recently, Sygnum, a banking group regulated in Switzerland and Singapore, has sparked a discussion regarding the hierarchy of smart-contract platforms with its commentary titled “Is Solana overtaking Ethereum?” published on May 8.

Comparing Solana and Ethereum

In Sygnum’s report, researchers note that Ethereum still leads in revenue and institutional adoption. However, the perception has shifted significantly toward Solana, suggesting it is currently “overtaking” Ethereum in public sentiment, even if that isn’t reflected in fundamental data.

The report mentions that Ethereum’s strategic changes have allowed Ether to outperform Solana by 5–10%. This is attributed to its improved focus on scalability and user experience. Nevertheless, the authors acknowledge that Ethereum is experiencing poor sentiment, despite its strong revenue performance.

Sygnum’s analysts explore the metrics of fees, revenue, and token value, stating that while Solana is leading in fee generation, its overall revenue continues to lag behind Ethereum—approximately two to two-and-a-half times less. This gap persists despite Solana’s rapid increase in retail transactions.

The dynamics of Ethereum’s Layer-2 solutions have raised concerns about their impact on the value of Ether. Surprisingly, the report also highlights similar issues affecting Solana, as most fees go to validators rather than increase the token’s value, putting Solana’s economic model at risk.

Efforts to adjust Solana’s inflation schedule—an initiative similar to Ethereum’s fee burning—were recently rejected by the community.

Market capitalization reveals a different perspective. While Solana is valued at about one-third of Ether and generates half its revenue, Sygnum sees potential for Solana to excel, especially with a more favorable narrative. However, the report notes that Solana’s income is heavily reliant on the memecoin market, making it perceived as less stable. Thus, the market’s valuation decisions might be logically based rather than emotional.

Statistical Insights

Ethereum’s stronghold among institutions offers a counterbalance. Use cases like tokenization, stablecoins, and DeFi are gaining traction supported by regulators and traditional finance. Ethereum accounts for 57% of tokenized assets, with an additional 20% through its Layer-2 platform, zkSync. For example, 93% of assets in BlackRock’s flagship BUIDL fund are on Ethereum, which they attribute to its decentralization and security.

In comparison, Solana holds less than 3% of the tokenization market and, despite its stablecoin share increasing above 5%, it remains significantly behind Ethereum. Solana’s most notable growth has been in DeFi, with its share rising from 9.5% to 11.5%, while Ethereum’s has decreased from 63.5% to 55% since January.

Sygnum recognizes that public narratives largely favor Solana, even after the Ethereum Foundation’s changes to its strategies. However, narratives alone do not dictate the preferences of traditional finance regarding custody or settlement systems.

The bank highlights that there aren’t clear indicators suggesting Solana will become the preferred option, given Ethereum’s valued attributes of security and longevity. The report notes how difficult it is to replace established networks, drawing parallels to the tech space.

Lastly, the report describes Ethereum’s recent performance as temporarily improved while maintaining revenue support that significantly outpaces Solana’s. Sygnum’s analysis suggests a perception shift toward Solana, but emphasizes that Ethereum still excels in foundational metrics. The ultimate outcome will depend on which platform earns the trust of global financial markets moving forward.

As things stand, market attention is on Solana’s higher transaction volumes; even though its revenues trail those of Ethereum. In the competitive arena of May 2025, Solana may captivate the audience, yet Ethereum still holds substantial market strength.

At the time of writing, ETH was priced at $2,344.