From cointelegraph by Marcel Pechman

Solana’s native token SOL SOL$185.56 failed to sustain levels above $200 after multiple rejections between Dec. 25 and Dec. 26. This movement aligned with the broader cryptocurrency market, which saw a 3.5% decline over two days ending Dec. 27. However, SOL underperformed with a 5.1% correction, raising concerns among traders about potential further price declines.

One key source of concern was Solana’s onchain network volumes, which dropped by 30% over seven days.

Despite securing second place in weekly volumes with $20.9 billion, Solana performed the worst among the top 10 blockchains. In comparison, Ethereum's on-chain volumes fell by 15%, while Sui experienced an 8% decline. Moreover, Ethereum’s ecosystem solidified its lead when factoring in layer-2 solutions such as Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, and Polygon.

Solana's weekly DApp volumes, as tracked by DefiLlama, also reflected negative trends. Highlights include a 39% decline in activity for Orca and Phoenix over seven days, while Raydium activity dropped 30%. Of greater concern, memecoins on Solana, which have been a significant draw for new users, posted poor 30-day performance. Onchain activity—spanning token launches, staking, and trading—remains a crucial driver of demand for SOL.

Among memecoins, Popcat fell 42% in the 30 days leading to Dec. 27, Dogwifhat (WIF) declined 40%, and BONK dropped 25%. In contrast, the total cryptocurrency market capitalization remained flat over the same period.

Notably, the correction was not exclusive to Solana-based memecoins, but Raydium’s recent success had been heavily tied to the pump.fun memecoin frenzy. These challenges underline the importance of sustaining onchain activity to maintain SOL demand.