ExchangeSolanaAltcoinsMarkets
|3 min ReadSolana DEX traders rotate from meme coins to stablecoins
Maya Chen
Senior Analyst
Published
Jan 16, 2026
The rush fades, the base builds
You can feel the pivot. Meme coin mania carried Solana’s DEXs through late 2024 and early 2025. It held more than 60% of all trades and pushed volumes to records. At one point Solana nearly doubled Ethereum’s activity. Then the music stopped. February brought scandals and failed launches. LIBRA collapsed. Confidence cracked. The copycats stalled. By September, meme coin trades fell below 30% of Solana DEX volume, the lowest share since February 2024.
Solana DEX Volume Activity. Source: Blockworks
Dune Analytics shows what happened to users. Daily DEX wallets peaked at 4.8 million in January. By September they slipped below 800,000. The crowd chased quick wins. When the frenzy dried up, they left.
What the data shows
The market chose stability. Swaps between SOL and stablecoins climbed to nearly 58% of DEX volume, the highest level since November 2023. Even stablecoin to stablecoin trades grew to about 4%. That is real liquidity. It is the money you use to hedge risk, settle payments, and move size without slippage pain.
Solana’s stablecoin base expanded fast. It rose from 5 billion at the start of the year to more than 12 billion. That is a beautiful foundation. It tells you bigger players are stepping in. They want speed, low fees, and clean settlement.
Why this matters now
This is not the casino phase. This is the build phase. The chain is maturing beyond meme coin spikes. Traders are choosing tools that work. Institutions can plan around that. The hype cycles will pop up again. They always do. But the path forward is clearer. Liquidity is deeper. Execution is faster. If you wait for permission, you will miss the move. The opportunity is right here, in the flow that lasts.
Disclaimer: This document is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views expressed in this document are not, and should not be taken as, investment advice or recommendations. Recipients should do their own due diligence, taking into account their specific financial circumstances, investment objectives and risk tolerance, which are not considered here, before investing. This document is not an offer, or the solicitation of an offer, to buy or sell any of the assets mentioned.