MetaMask Adds Solana: Solana vs Ethereum, Who Will Lead the Blockchain Market?
- Kimi
- 7 hours ago
- 3 min read
MetaMask’s decision to roll out native Solana support this May signals a watershed moment for multichain wallets—and it lands just as Solana’s on-chain activity is surging while Ethereum doubles-down on rollups and fee cuts.
Below, we unpack what MetaMask is actually shipping, compare the two ecosystems on throughput, users, and total value locked, and sketch the catalysts and risks that could decide who rules the next decade of blockchain infrastructure.
MetaMask’s Seismic Move: From “Snaps” to Native Solana
MetaMask CEO Dan Finlay confirmed that
Solana will become the wallet’s first non-EVM chain on May 22 2025, ahead of a planned Bitcoin integration later this year.
Until now, Solana users had to install a third-party “Solana Snap” or switch to Phantom; native support eliminates that friction and lets 30 million MetaMask users hold, stake, and swap SOL directly inside the main extension.
For Solana builders, this opens a zero-install path to MetaMask’s vast dApp network; for MetaMask, it future-proofs the product against rival wallets like Phantom and Kraken Wallet that already support multiple L1s.
Why Solana Matters Now
Raw Performance and User Growth
Solana routinely clears 2,000+ average transactions per second on mainnet, orders of magnitude above Ethereum’s base layer. Daily active addresses hit 4 million in March 2025, up 33 % quarter-on-quarter, outpacing every other smart-contract chain.
DeFi & NFT Traction
Solana’s share of DeFi TVL has doubled since January, rising to 11.5 % versus Ethereum’s 55 %. Low fees (fractions of a cent) have also made Solana the chain of choice for high-velocity NFT drops and memecoin launches—trends that drove 24 million weekly active addresses in early May.
Ethereum’s Enduring Strength
Liquidity and Layer-2 Flywheel
Even after Solana’s gains, Ethereum still secures more than half of all DeFi liquidity and hosts 9 of the 10 largest DeFi protocols by TVL. The March 2024 Dencun upgrade (EIP-4844) slashed data costs for rollups, cutting average L2 fees below $0.05 and spurring rapid L2 adoption.
Developer Network Effects
Ethereum retains the deepest tooling, the most audited smart-contract libraries, and a growing roster of based-rollup experiments that aim to bring more activity back on-chain without sacrificing security.
Head-to-Head Metrics (May 2025 Snapshot)
Metric | Solana | Ethereum (L1 only) |
Daily active addresses | 4 M | ~386 k |
Avg. base-layer TPS | 2,000+ | 15 |
DeFi TVL share | 11.5 % | 55 % |
7-day uptime | 100 %* | 100 % |
*Solana’s last major outage was in Feb 2024; status page shows no incidents in May 2025. |
Catalysts and Risks
On Solana’s Side
ETF Momentum: Prediction markets put the odds of a U.S. Solana spot ETF approval in 2025 at 77 %, adding institutional tailwinds.
Smart-phone Distribution: A second-generation Solana Mobile device is slated for Q3, embedding a hardware wallet and “token airdrop” incentives.
MetaMask Effect: Seamless access for MetaMask’s install base could double Solana’s wallet penetration overnight.
For Ethereum
Rollup Consolidation: Cheaper blobs and shared sequencing could pull volumes back from alt-L1s to Ethereum’s L2 stack.
Restaking & EigenLayer: New “Actively Validated Services” monetise ETH security and may reinforce the economic moat.
Regulatory Clarity: ETH is already listed on U.S. futures exchanges; a spot ETF could equalise the playing field if the SEC green-lights it.
Common Challenges
Security: High throughput means larger blast radius for exploits; MetaMask’s recent security-alert rollout hints at wallet-level mitigation.
Decentralisation Trade-offs: Both ecosystems wrestle with MEV extraction and validator concentration, issues that the switch to based rollups (ETH) and stake-weighted QoS (SOL) aim to solve.
Who Will Dominate? Three Scenarios
Rollup Renaissance: If L2s settle the fee debate, Ethereum could retain liquidity dominance while off-loading scaling to Optimism, Arbitrum and the emerging “based” cohort.
Solana SuperApp: Should MetaMask integration drive sustained user growth and a SOL ETF unlock fresh capital, Solana could flip Ethereum on retail activity and DApp revenue within two years.
Pluralistic Future: More likely, the market fragments: Ethereum anchors institutional-grade settlement; Solana captures high-frequency consumer flows; smaller L1s and Bitcoin sidechains carve out niches.
Key Takeaways for Builders and Investors
Wallet UX is destiny. MetaMask’s move lowers the switching cost to Solana to a single click, erasing one of Ethereum’s biggest defensive moats.
Follow the liquidity, not the rhetoric. TVL and stablecoin flows still crown Ethereum, but Solana’s address growth shows where retail mind-share is going.
Hedge your bets. A diversified strategy—deploying contracts on Ethereum L2s while mirroring front-ends on Solana—may offer the best risk-adjusted exposure to the next wave of crypto adoption.
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