Solana and Base Remains Most Popular Blockchain Ecosystems in 2024: CoinGecko

With 2024 coming to a close, CoinGecko has released its roundup of the most popular blockchain ecosystems of 2024.

Measuring traffic and investor interest, Solana came in strong at the top of the list, followed by Base, Ethereum, and TON, respectively.

Solana and Base Alone Hold 56% of Blockchain Ecosystems’ Global Traffic Share

Measuring the global traffic shares of the top 20 blockchain ecosystems, Solana shows remarkable performance, taking up an impressive 38.79% of total traffic shares. Coming in at the second spot, Base had 16.81%, bringing their shares to a total of nearly 56% as of November 11.

It is important to note that in CoinGecko’s study, only ecosystems with actively listed coins and a non-zero percentage share of traffic were included.

Top 20 Blockchains Global Traffic Share, January to November 2024. Source: CoinGecko.

CoinGecko’s findings reveal that Solana held the top blockchain ranks from Q1 2024 through year’s end. A major factor in Solana’s popularity is renewed interest in meme coins. Many users favor Solana for its speed, reliability, and low gas fees.

Base also benefited from increased meme coin trading. However, while Solana saw a 10% decrease in investor interest from Q1 to Q4, Base experienced a fivefold increase. Despite this shift, Base retained its second-place ranking in global traffic shares.

Meanwhile, the Ethereum ecosystem dropped to third place in popularity, now holding a 10.8% share of investor interest. Since the first quarter, Ethereum’s traffic shares have fallen by 1.9%. This decline likely stems from Ethereum’s well-established platform status, making it less of a trending topic for investors.

Interest in Ethereum also spreads across the layer 2 networks built on top of it, dividing investor focus among them.

Altogether, the top 20 blockchain ranks accounted for 97% of investor interest, with the remaining 3% spread across 47 other blockchains.

The Role of Meme Coins in Driving Traffic

Part of Solana’s success is due to the virality of Pump.fun, a Solana-based meme coin launchpad. From January to October 2024, the platform was responsible for launching over 2.5 million SOL tokens. As of November 14, it issued 3.26 million meme coins.

Pump.fun Revenue. Source: Dune.

As depicted on Dune, Pump.fun’s daily revenue has soared, with approximately $2.8 million at the time of writing.

“Your utility projects are getting out performed by meme coins. Ethereum is getting out performed by Solana. Bitcoin is out performing the entire market. Be realistic and you’ll win this cycle. Trade the trends and narratives,” said one crypto influencer on X.