Hold on to your hats, folks, because Raydium is riding the Solana express straight to the top of the decentralized exchange (DEX) world! Solana has been throwing its weight around in the DEX market, grabbing a whopping 50% of the action in November, and Raydium is basking in the glory.
Let's rewind to October, when Raydium made waves by becoming the number one DEX in terms of volume across all chains—a feat they didn't just rest on but built upon with gusto in November. According to the crypto wizards over at Messari, Raydium left Uniswap eating its dust, boasting a jaw-dropping 30% lead in monthly DEX volumes. We're talking about a cool $124.6 billion compared to Uniswap's $90.5 billion.
Raydium isn't just a flash in the pan; it's been steadily beefing up its slice of Solana's DEX pie all year. Since March, it's been leaving its rival, Orca, in the wake of its daily trading volumes. The third quarter of 2024 was a game-changer, with Raydium seizing the daily DEX volume crown for the first time since 2022 and holding onto it tightly for two quarters straight. Fast-forward to November 2024, and Raydium's got over 60% of Solana's daily DEX volume in its pocket.
What's fueling this meteoric rise? Enter the meme coin mania! After the US presidential election on November 5, 2024, meme coin trading on Raydium skyrocketed to nearly $2 billion daily—triple the previous month's average. Those cheeky little meme coins now make up a whopping 65% of Raydium's daily trading volume, up from a mere 2% a year ago.
A key player in this rise is Pump.fun, Solana's go-to launchpad for meme coins. With Pump.fun tokens hitting a market cap of $69,000, Raydium's automated market maker (AMM) pools are swimming in liquidity, creating a perfect storm of trading opportunities and driving volumes higher.
Raydium's success is inextricably linked to the Solana ecosystem's explosive growth, which is giving Ethereum a run for its money in the DEX space. After a series of eye-popping airdrops in December 2023, Solana began nipping at Ethereum's heels in weekly DEX volumes. According to Messari, the liquidity wave from these airdrops supercharged Solana's network activity.
By Q3 2024, Solana had flipped the script, capturing three times the weekly DEX volume of Ethereum—a game-changing moment in DEX history. This momentum carried through October 2024, with Solana consistently outpacing Ethereum in daily DEX volume. By November 2024, Solana was sitting pretty with nearly 50% of the monthly DEX volume, a staggering 175% more than Ethereum's 18%. As users flock to Solana, platforms like Raydium are reaping the rewards, setting the stage for an exciting future in the world of decentralized exchanges.
