SOL price stalls despite Solana’s DeFi TVL nearing record highs

Solana’s DeFi ecosystem has seen explosive growth, nearing all-time high levels, but SOL continues to lag behind.

Solana (SOL) is attracting near-record amounts of capital, but its price continues to lag behind. On Thursday, August 28, the total DeFi value locked on Solana reached $11.725 billion, near the record figures in January. At the same time, the total stablecoin market cap was at $12 billion, while bridged TVL amounted to $42 billion.

Yet despite strong metrics, SOL’s price is still hovering around $200, far below its January ATH at $294.33. At the time, Solana’s DeFi TVL was near its current August peak, suggesting that DeFi TVL and the price have started to diverge.

Why SOL price lags behind its DeFi ecosystem

At the same time, the fees generated on Solana remain at a relatively modest $1.68 million daily. This is far from the record $28.89 million in January. Low on-chain revenue is the likely reason why SOL lags behind the growth of its DeFi ecosystem.

Currently, much of Solana’s ecosystem activity goes through platforms that prioritize low cost. This includes DEX aggregators like Jupiter, which accounts for much of the trading activity on Solana. For these protocols, high TVL equals higher liquidity and better trading conditions.

Still, this does not translate to higher revenue for the Solana network, which is one of the key metrics for Solana’s price performance. Higher revenue translates to higher staking rewards, making Solana more valuable. Due to gains in efficiencies, SOL will likely continue to lag behind its DeFi TVL, at least until fees pick up.