Neither Ethereum nor Cardano: Solana is crowned the world's favorite blockchain for the 2nd year in a row

Neither Ethereum nor Cardano: Solana is crowned the world's favorite blockchain for the 2nd year in a row

CoinGecko's annual report reveals that Solana led global crypto interest in 2025. We analyze why this blockchain ecosystem outperformed others, such as Base and Ethereum, despite increasing competition.

The landscape of decentralized finance and digital assets is one where user attention fluctuates as volatilely as market prices. However, a recent report published by CoinGecko has confirmed a trend that has been gaining momentum in recent times. 

Solana has once again positioned itself as the most popular blockchain ecosystem worldwide during 2025, retaining the crown for the second year in a row. 

Buy SOL with Bit2Me easily and securely

The rise of Solana: the leading network in crypto traffic and efficiency

The leadership achieved by the SOL network is not accidental, but the result of a blockchain that has managed to overcome its historical technical barriers to offer a high-speed, low-cost infrastructure that is extremely attractive to both developers and retail users.

The Solana blockchain has come a long way since its early days, marked by service interruptions and doubts about its stability. However, today the network has demonstrated remarkable technical evolution and operational efficiency, leaving behind those episodes of outages and forced restarts. Its technological maturity has allowed it to establish itself as the preferred option for those seeking Fast and cheap transactions, becoming the epicenter of multiple narratives within the crypto sector. 

The CoinGecko report, updated in mid-December, confirms this supremacy in terms of global web traffic and follow-up by the investment community, placing it ahead of competitors with enormous institutional and technological weight.

Solana, the global favorite: buy it at Bit2Me

From the memecoin boom to the battle for real-world uses

The data presented by CoinGecko is conclusive in indicating that Solana captured 26,79% of global interest in specific chain narratives during the year 2025. While this figure secures its undisputed first place, a deeper analysis of the metrics also reveals important nuances about the health of its domain. 

El report The report indicates that the Solana ecosystem's share of attention experienced a significant reduction of twelve percentage points compared to the almost absolute dominance of 38,79% it held in 2024. Analysts suggest that this contraction is due to the network's difficulty in expanding its value proposition beyond speculation with memecoins, a sector that has been both a driving force and a limiting factor for its public image. 

In addition, the price of the network's native asset, SOL, has remained in a sideways range, despite institutional adoption milestones such as the launch of spot ETFs and derivatives in the United States.

Solana (SOL) price over the past year.
Source: CoinGecko
Log in and trade Solana on Bit2Me right now

Competition for investor attention has intensified, and new narratives, such as those involving AI agents, have begun to claim their space in the digital landscape. Despite this decline in relative market share, Solana's ability to remain at the top demonstrates the loyalty of its user base and the robustness of its underlying infrastructure. The network continues to be the benchmark for the high-frequency on-chain activityHowever, the challenge for the next cycle will be to demonstrate that it can accommodate use cases that transcend mere financial speculation and offer sustained real value.

In second place on this digital podium we find Base, one of the main Layer 2 networks of Ethereum. This blockchain ecosystem managed to capture 13,94% of global investor interest. 

Like the leader, Base experienced a slight decrease in its market share compared to the previous year, although the decline was much more moderate. Base's resilience is based on constructive developments aimed at integrating the masses into the crypto environment, and on strategic alliances with e-commerce platforms like Shopify to facilitate stablecoin payments. These strategic moves indicate that the battle for the end user is being fought on the grounds of usability and integration with the real economy.

The playing field is being reconfigured with old acquaintances and new contenders.

While Solana and Base defend their leading positions, the rest of the market is not static. Ethereum has managed to retain its position as the third most popular ecosystem with 13,43% of global interest. A relevant fact is that, unlike the two leaders, Ethereum It saw its market share grow by almost three percentage points year after year. This growth has allowed it to narrow the gap with Base, demonstrating that the pioneering network of the smart contracts It maintains its validity and relevance despite recurring criticisms about the price action of its native token and fierce competition from Layer 2 networks.

The CoinGecko report also highlights the meteoric rise of competitors such as Sui y BNB Chainwhich occupy fourth and fifth place, respectively. The Sui ecosystem has experienced the greatest growth in terms of market share, doubling its metrics to reach 11,77% and positioning itself as a serious contender that threatens to challenge Ethereum for the top spot. Meanwhile, the BNB Chain has revitalized its market presence thanks to the launch of new trading platforms and the return of key figures to its corporate structure, which has boosted both on-chain trading volume and speculative interest.

In addition to the established giants, 2025 has seen the entry of new players into the top 10, such as the ecosystem of XRP Ledger y BittensorThe latter is driven by the strong narrative linking blockchain with artificial intelligence. 

Also deserves a special mention Hyperliquidwhich has climbed dozens of positions thanks to renewed enthusiasm for perpetual currency trading on decentralized exchanges (DEXs). These movements demonstrate that the market is dynamic and that technological innovation remains the primary driver for capturing the imagination and capital of market participants.

Buy Hyperliquid now at Bit2Me

The race in the blockchain industry towards 2026

Looking at the complete picture painted by the CoinGecko study, it becomes clear that the blockchain industry is in a phase of maturation and readjustment. 

Looking ahead to 2026, experts and analysts are already beginning to envision which projects could alter the status quo current. The report suggests maintaining vigilance over emerging ecosystems such as Monad y PlasmaAlthough they currently have marginal attention shares, they represent the new technological bets that could capitalize on interest in the coming year.

Adaptability will be key for current leaders like Solana to maintain their dominance. Competition is no longer just about speed or cost, but about compelling narratives, genuine adoption, and the ability to integrate with adjacent technological trends like artificial intelligence. The crypto community has proven quick to shift its focus to where innovation resides, and next year will be crucial in determining whether current champions can revamp their growth drivers or give way to a new generation of digital infrastructure.

Create your account and access Ethereum today