Solana Dominates DEX Volume with $20B as DeFi Activity Surges

Solana is currently the top blockchain for decentralized exchange (DEX) volume, with daily figures ranging from $1.6 billion to $3.25 billion throughout September. This performance has solidified its position as the primary venue for on-chain trading, surpassing rivals like Robinhood Chain, which recorded a daily volume of $2.72 billion.

According to data from DefiLlama, Solana's weekly DEX volume frequently exceeds $17 billion, with totals hitting $17.322 billion for the week ending mid-September. Over the past 30 days, its cumulative volume has surpassed $76 billion, and the network crossed a significant milestone of $3 trillion in cumulative DEX volume earlier in September.

Three main categories are driving this growth: stablecoin swaps, meme-driven transactions, and perpetual contracts. Tokenized equities have also played a vital role, with Raydium accounting for over 90% of Solana's memestocks DEX volume, leading to a cumulative tokenized stock trading total of over $5 billion by late September.

Additionally, PropAMMs (proprietary automated market makers) are capturing 15% to 30% of global DEX volume, with Solana hosting around 90% of this activity. Jupiter, the leading liquidity aggregator on Solana, facilitates most SOL-stablecoin flows through these PropAMMs. Interestingly, traditional AMMs are also regaining market share, indicating a growing ecosystem where various liquidity approaches can coexist.

New platforms like PumpSwap are emerging alongside established names such as Raydium and Orca, intensifying competition for trading volume. As of mid-to-late September, the total value locked in DeFi on Solana ranged between $5.72 billion and $6.2 billion, with the network achieving all-time highs in transaction count and dApp revenue.

Solana's DEX volumes now regularly exceed those of major centralized exchanges like Coinbase and Kraken, with a peak daily volume of $3.25 billion on September 12, surpassing the combined trading volume of several mid-tier centralized exchanges. The ongoing development of PropAMMs is particularly noteworthy, as their concentration on Solana could create a self-reinforcing cycle of improved liquidity and increased trading activity.