Solana (SOL) is down about 20% in a month, and long-term holders keep moving coins onto exchanges to sell, yet on-chain volume, aka Solana network activity, has jumped about 39%.

Much of that surge comes from meme coin launchpads and perps.

Exchange Inflows Point to Steady Selling Pressure

The exchange net position change, a metric that tracks the net tokens moving in and out of exchanges, has climbed sharply this month. A rising reading means more coins are landing on exchanges than leaving.

On June 11, it sat near 57,336 SOL. By June 25, it had reached about 1,410,650 SOL, roughly 25 times higher, an increase of about 2,400%.

Coins moving onto exchanges may signal that holders are positioning to sell, since exchange wallets are where most selling occurs. The steady fortnightly climb suggests this Solana selling pressure is building, not a one-off tied to a single sell-off.

If holders are heading for the exits, the volume data raises an obvious question: who is still trading?

Solana Network Activity Keeps Climbing as the Price Falls

Solana DEX volume, the dollar value of every token swap on the chain’s decentralized exchanges, tells the opposite story. The seven-day average sits near $1.73 billion a day, up about 39% from roughly $1.24 billion a month ago.

Solana network fees, the dollars users pay to transact, also held firm at about $7.2 million over 24 hours and $200 million across 30 days.

Steady fees indicate real demand for blockspace, suggesting users are still active.

Here, the split is clearest. Solana TVL, the value of assets deposited in the chain’s DeFi apps, fell about 13% to $4.74 billion, but most of that drop reflects SOL’s lower price rather than users withdrawing, since the locked value is largely held in SOL. Activity is rising while locked value falls.

That surge in activity is not spread evenly. It is concentrated in a handful of venues and tokens.

The Apps Driving the On-Chain Surge

A few decentralized exchanges are carrying most of the volume. The Top Solana DEXs by 24-hour activity stand out clearly.

• BisonFi, a proprietary market-maker AMM, is near $359 million
• Orca, an established Solana AMM, is at $329 million
• AlphaQ, a newer swap-routing protocol, is at $241 million, ahead of Meteora and Raydium, near $151 million each

The mix is the part worth scrutiny. Established venues like Orca and Raydium now trade alongside unfamiliar names like BisonFi and AlphaQ, and volume that large from new venues raises the question of how much is organic.

The fee data shows what users are actually paying for. Memecoin and trading apps lead, with PumpSwap collecting about $1.29 million a day and pump.fun about $0.73 million, ahead of Jupiter’s perpetuals exchange and the trading terminal Axiom.

That points to the real driver. The network is being used harder than its falling price suggests, but the heavy lifting comes from new venues and memecoin flow, so whether the boom reflects lasting demand stays an open question while holders keep selling.

Source: BeInCrypto