Pantera Capital Researchers Say Solana Will Steal Market Share From Ethereum, Here’s Why

Analysts at crypto-focused asset manager Pantera Capital have made a bullish case for the Solana ecosystem compared to Ethereum. They highlighted the network’s growth and outlined why Solana is bound to steal a massive chunk of the market from Ethereum. 

Why Solana Will Steal Market Share From Ethereum

In their most recent blockchain letter, Pantera analysts Franklin Bi, Cosmo Jiang, and Eric Wallach highlighted Solana’s “monolithic architecture” as the primary reason it could steal market share from Ethereum in terms of blockchain developer activity. They noted that developers make a blockchain successful and shared their belief that Solana is now a “major contender for the future of blockchain development.” 

Interestingly, these Pantera analysts likened Solana’s monolithic architecture to Apple’s approach with its “vertically integrated hardware and software stack in macOS.” They believe Solana’s network design offers several benefits, including seamless user experience, faster innovation, and enhanced security. 

Furthermore, the newsletter highlighted how Solana’s architectural advantages enable several use cases and user experiences, which may be harder to implement on modular blockchains like Ethereum and Cosmos. Specifically, Solana’s capabilities are said to be valuable for use cases like content distribution, decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePINs), and central limit order books (CLOBs).

Bi, Jang, and Wallach went on to give examples of how Solana’s monolithic architecture “enables compelling applications.” They mentioned the non-fungible token (NFT) drop platform DRiP, whose success they claimed has been mainly due to Solana’s capabilities, which allow them to send millions of NFTs to collectors worldwide without incurring significant transaction costs. 

These research analysts also mentioned Hivemapper and Phoenix as examples of applications that have benefitted from Solana’s architecture. It is worth noting that asset manager Franklin Templeton had also previously highlighted Solana’s “superior tech” and stated that the network was well-suited for sectors and applications that would drive the next wave of crypto adoption. 

Solana’s Fundamental Growth Supports Bullish Case

Pantera mentioned that the bullish case for Solana is already playing out with key fundamentals like user growth and transaction fees skyrocketing. The firm further noted how Solana has emerged as the go-to platform for retail investors and meme coin traders. Solana is also said to have displaced Ethereum’s NFT dominance from the previous market cycle. 

Solana’s rapidly growing user base is also evident in the network’s rise in unique active addresses, which have risen from just 14,000 in October 2020 and a local bottom of 202,000 in October 2023 to almost 1.34 million. Pantera also mentioned Solana’s priority fees, which have “exploded” from below $100,000 per month in mid-2023 to an all-time high (ATH) of over $60 million in March 2024, further highlighting the impressive demand for Solana. 

Meanwhile, the soaring volume on Solana’s decentralized exchanges (DEXs) and the record-breaking number of token launches are also said to be key fundamentals, which show that Solana is poised to sustain its upward trajectory and capture an outsized share of the market.