As Solana’s on-chain activity continues to accelerate, a question is increasingly surfacing among investors: Can Solana eventually be valued alongside networks like Ethereum, or is the gap structural rather than temporary?
During a recent interview with TheStreet Roundtable at Solana Breakpoint, research analyst Danny Nelson from Bitwise Asset Management addressed this question, pointing first to usage rather than price targets.
“If you look at the level of activity that’s happening on Solana, it’s hard to say exactly how to value these networks,” he said.
Understanding Crypto Network Valuation
Economic activity is a more easily measurable metric for valuing crypto networks. Solana has established itself as a leader in decentralized exchange usage, consistently posting higher decentralized exchange (DEX) volumes than Ethereum.
“If you look at DEX volumes, Solana’s beating Ethereum in DEX volumes,” Nelson stated. “It’s not beating Ethereum in stablecoins, but it’s number two, maybe number three already."
This high level of activity aligns with the user experience of many. Speed and cost are significant factors. Compared to Ethereum’s higher fees and slower settlement times, Solana’s environment facilitates the development of applications that feel more usable and less experimental.
That’s not to say that Ethereum is overvalued or Solana is undervalued,” Nelson clarified.
The critical question is where future growth will concentrate. If payments and tokenized assets become core use cases for blockchains, infrastructure that supports high throughput at a low cost becomes increasingly attractive.
Solana's Competitive Advantages
Nelson elaborated on Solana's potential to outperform competitors, particularly in emerging use cases.
“If payments and tokenization are really going to take off, then Solana is going to be a prime place for all that activity to happen,” Nelson explained.
He believes that tokenization will be the key technology to propel Solana to new heights.
“The biggest value add for Solana is going to be tokenization,” he emphasized.
Currently, Ethereum remains the dominant platform for real-world asset issuance, encompassing tokenized funds, stablecoins, and various other financial instruments.
Nelson argued that institutions prioritize execution capabilities over brand recognition.
“From the perspective of institutions, what it’s really going to come down to is things like stock trading and asset management,” Nelson said.
If these activities transition onto the blockchain, they will necessitate an environment that is both rapid and cost-effective.
For Solana, achieving higher valuations hinges on its ability to facilitate the migration of tokenization from proof-of-concept stages to production scale, and on its readiness to accommodate this shift when it occurs.