State of Solana Q2 2025: $8.6B DeFi, 100K TPS, and Institutional Growth

Messari’s Q2 2025 report highlights Solana’s record-setting quarter—crossing 100K TPS on mainnet, growing DeFi TVL to $8.6B, expanding RWAs to $390M, and securing approval for the first U.S. Solana staking ETF.

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TL;DR

New mainnet benchmark: Solana briefly topped ~100k TPS in a stress test (no-ops) on block #360,650,523—a raw capacity data point, not sustained user load.
Ecosystem health: Despite a cooldown in speculative trading, DeFi TVL rose 30.4% QoQ to $8.6B; App Revenue Capture Ratio jumped to 211.6%, signaling strong app-level monetization versus on-chain fees.
RWAs and institutions: RWA value climbed to $390.6M; xStocks went live via Kraken + Backed; the REX-Osprey Solana + Staking ETF (SSK) launched in the U.S.
Roadmap: Alpenglow—a consensus overhaul—targets 100–150 ms finality, a step-change from ~12.8s.

The 100K TPS Moment: Proof of Scale

In June, Solana validator Cavey Cool produced block #360,650,523, pushing throughput to 104,529 TPS, the highest ever on mainnet. While mostly no-op transactions (synthetic benchmarking), the achievement illustrates the raw capacity of Solana’s architecture: enough to support global-scale finance, payments, and gaming workloads.

For investors, this matters because scalability de-risks growth. Networks that bottleneck at the first sign of mass adoption often bleed market share. By contrast, Solana is signaling it has headroom for the next wave of users and institutional applications.

DeFi: Growing TVL Despite Speculation Cooldown

Messari’s State of Solana Q2 2025 report shows DeFi TVL rose 30.4% QoQ to $8.6 billion, even as daily DEX spot volumes fell 45.4%. Kamino (+33.9% QoQ), Raydium (+53.5% QoQ), and Jupiter (+13.2% QoQ) led the charge, with Jupiter Lend set to onboard 2.4 million wallets on launch.

Even more telling: Solana’s Application Revenue Capture Ratio (RCR) jumped from 126.5% to 211.6%. In plain terms, for every $100 in validator fees and tips, apps generated $212 in revenue. That efficiency signals that Solana’s apps are not just being used—they’re monetizing effectively, a key marker for ecosystem maturity.

Real-World Assets and Institutional Entry

RWAs on Solana hit $390.6M (+23.9% QoQ), with Ondo’s USDY ($175M) and OUSG ($79M) leading. The launch of xStocks (tokenized equities and ETFs issued on Solana by Backed and Kraken) marks another bridge between TradFi and on-chain liquidity.

Meanwhile, the REX-Osprey Solana Staking ETF (SSK) launched in June—the first staking crypto ETF approved in the U.S. It stakes part of its assets in JitoSOL, giving institutional investors a compliant way to access Solana yield. Additional spot ETF filings from Invesco and Galaxy Digital are pending decisions later this year.

Staking, Security, and Finality

Staked SOL rose to $60B (+25.2% QoQ), while liquid staking penetration reached 12.2% of supply. Decentralization also improved, with Solana’s Nakamoto coefficient climbing to 21, above the median for major L1s.

The biggest long-term lever is Alpenglow, a new consensus protocol proposed by Anza. Scheduled for testnet and possible mainnet rollout at Breakpoint 2025, it could reduce finality from ~12.8s to just 100–150 ms. That’s faster than Web2 payment rails, unlocking near-instant settlement for DeFi, RWAs, and consumer payments.

Investor takeaway: Faster finality means better UX—a competitive edge for onboarding mainstream users and institutions. If Solana hits sub-second finality, it could leapfrog competitors not just in scale, but in user confidence and adoption.

Why Investors Should Watch Closely

Q2 was about monetization, institutional bridges, and network resilience. For investors, three points stand out:

Scaling isn’t hypothetical. Solana proved mainnet capacity at >100K TPS and continues to raise block limits.
Revenue is real. Apps are monetizing activity at a 2.1× rate relative to fees, showing ecosystem maturity.
Institutions are coming. With a U.S.-approved staking ETF and tokenized equities live, Solana has achieved legitimacy most chains still lack.

Put together, Solana’s Q2 2025 is a reminder that performance + adoption = value capture. Investors aren’t just betting on speculative hype cycles anymore—they’re buying into a network with infrastructure, liquidity, and regulatory traction to rival Ethereum’s.