Solana’s Ecosystem Rise
The Solana ecosystem has been on a meteoric rise during this past rally with its memecoin $BONK skyrocketing over 8000% and Tensorians NFT rising over 1100%.
Adding to this momentum, Jito’s recent lucrative airdrop has generated a wealth effect, intensifying the spotlight on the ecosystem and sparking a wave of airdrop farming frenzy, injecting and attracting further liquidity into the ecosystem.
For instance, marginfi experienced a growth of more than 10k new accounts per day following the $JTO airdrop. Kamino Finance too, hopped on the airdrop hype, announcing through CoinDesk its points program a day after Jito’s token went live.
Airdrop farmers have also been speculating on Tensor, acquiring Tensorians NFTs as a hassle-free way to gain exposure to the Tensor airdrop, leading to a rapid 12x increase in floor price from its November low of 8.79 $SOL per NFT to its current peak of 110.9 $SOL.
As can be seen in the chart below, $JTO’s TGE fueled its second leg up, doubling Tensorians’ floor price in a matter of days.
Additionally, the NFT marketplace TensorSwap, has pushed new market share highs against its competitor MagicEden, commanding 82% of NFT trading volume. This shift in activity is likely due to Tensor’s ongoing points program that farmers are confident they can capitalize on, while a token for MagicEden remains a mere possibility.
With these, Solana has reached yearly highs in user metrics, chain volume, and ecosystem liquidity. While it would be easy to chalk the ecosystem’s growth to the general strength of the market, examining its growth from a market share perspective may provide additional context.
Since October, Solana has been gaining DEX market share against Ethereum, growing from 6.5% to 27.8%, an all-time high since the chain’s inception.
The same is true when comparing NFT volume between the two chains, with Solana beginning its market share gain over Ethereum in early November, marking an all-time high of 15.23% since Genesis.
Solana's DEX and NFT volume share reaching all-time high serves as a reminder to the significance that a well-timed airdrop can have on a blockchain. As some would recount, the $JTO airdrop is reminiscent of the $UNI airdrop during the first DeFi Summer.
This enthusiasm has since spilled over to the Cosmos ecosystem, causing a rise in tokens like $TIA, $INJ, and $KUJI, propelled by the airdrop farming narrative that requires buying and staking these tokens. Despite the recent market pullback, they have demonstrated notable resilience compared to other altcoins and majors.
To conclude, as Solana’s airdrop frenzy continues, investors should keep an open mind toward the potential of shifting trends in this new market cycle.