Author: Kazu Umemoto Source: Bankless Translation: Shan Ouba, Golden Finance

2024, Ethereum and the Solana community are blazing new trails in crypto.

In many ways, 2024 conveyed the value story of Bitcoin to the world-Bitcoin broke through 100,000 US dollars and ushered in an epic Strong rebound. However, the focus of the crypto industry in 2024 goes far beyond Bitcoin, with the Ethereum and Solana communities achieving great results during the year.

Although the two top smart contract platforms still have a lot of infighting at certain points in time, 2024 has truly demonstrated the unique advantages of their respective communities. These advantages not only attract more people to pay attention to the encryption field, but also pave the way for glory in 2025.

Today, we’ll take a deep dive into the important moments Ethereum and Solana will drive the industry in 2024, as well as three key trends for both ecosystems.

1. Ethereum developers are fighting for the future of the encryption industry

In 2024, Ethereum developers will bravely fight for the future of encryption and DeFi. In the face of aggressive regulators, the Ethereum community has spearheaded tough rhetoric and targeted lawsuits in an attempt to fight back against a long-running crackdown on crypto companies.

Uniswap, Consensys and Coinbase and other institutions took the initiative. Early Ethereum KOLs stood up to defend the core values ​​of the encryption industry and challenged Gary Gensler (U.S. SEC Chairman), and funding pro-cryptocurrency leaders seeking to reshape the landscape.

In 2024, the encryption giants won key battles and accumulated important capital to ensure that the values ​​​​of the encryption industry will no longer be easily trampled on.

2. The growth of stablecoins highlights the value of cryptocurrencies

In 2024, stablecoins will Significant progress has been made in the Ethereum ecosystem. Ethena launches USDe stablecoin, minting nearly 60 billion US dollars. USDC supply has nearly doubled, and USDT supply has grown by more than 50%.

This growth shows that stablecoins are increasingly being viewed as reliable financial instruments and stores of value. Institutions such as BlackRock have entered the stablecoin space, with its BUIDL fund backing Ethena’s USDtb stablecoin. With BlackRock on board, more companies are likely to explore the potential of stablecoins in reducing day-to-day transaction costs.

3. Ethereum starts the expansion of "responsible expansion"

Due to the poor price performance of ETH Well, the community began to deeply analyze the advantages and disadvantages of Ethereum. The community has had a heated discussion around the expansion roadmap, with both criticism and defense.

At Bankless, we have held many seminars on capacity expansion:

•Max Resnick shared the expansion dilemma,

•Justin Drake showed the development direction of Beam Chain that is consistent with the roadmap.

But this year is not limited to discussion - the Dencun hard fork reduces L2 transaction costs by introducing Blob transactions, which allow L2 to be stored at low cost on the Ethereum mainnet A large amount of data makes transaction fees cheaper and attracts more users.

1. Memecoin craze attracts a large number of users

2024, memecoin The craze has attracted millions of users to the Solana chain, with many hoping to get a piece of the next 1000x coin. Pump.fun became a key player in the memecoin craze, issuing over 5 million tokens in 2024 and accounting for 50% of Solana DEX trading volume. The total trading volume of Solana DEX is as high as 990 billion U.S. dollars, and memecoin has made a huge contribution.

Of course, memecoin is not always full of aura: project collapse, insider trading, celebrity cutting leek incidents are common, Pump.fun The short-lived live broadcast function also exposed the problem of user misconduct.

Despite this, Pump.fun remains one of Solana’s flagship projects. If the memecoin craze continues in 2025, Solana is expected to attract more users than in 2024.

2. Developers are pouring into the Solana ecosystem

In 2024, Solana will not only attract new users, and also attracted a large number of new developers willing to join Solana. According to the 2024 Electric Capital Developer Report, Solana ranks second in global developer share, behind Ethereum. Although Ethereum still dominates the total number of developers, Solana has 1,000 more new developers than Ethereum this year, putting it far ahead in attracting developers. This indicates that a new wave of innovation may emerge in the Solana ecosystem, bringing more vitality to 2025.

3. Institutional interest is heating up

In the past two years, SOL prices have soared by more than 1,700%. This growth, coupled with the launch of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, has fueled speculation about a Solana ETF.

Grayscale has filed to convert its Solana trust into a spot ETF. Considering Grayscale has successfully converted its Bitcoin and Ethereum trusts into ETFs this year, the Solana ETF is only a matter of time. If the Solana ETF is approved, it will provide convenient investment channels for large institutions and retail investors, changing Solana's image as a mere "memecoin chain" in the crypto industry and becoming an ecosystem trusted by millions of users.

In 2024, the encryption industry will usher in a new narrative.

During this year, Ethereum and Solana demonstrated their own unique development trends, which not only strengthened their market positioning, but also jointly promoted the "cryptocurrency market". The grand narrative of "subverting traditional finance (TradFi)".

Solana took advantage of the memecoin craze to stabilize its presenceIts position in the hearts of retail users has attracted a large number of users who are exposed to cryptocurrencies for the first time. Ethereum continues to be the mainstay of DeFi (decentralized finance), emphasizing stability and institutional adoption, and actively defending the core values ​​of decentralization within the industry and on the stage.

Looking forward to 2025, as the anti-encryption forces in American politics gradually lose power and regulations gradually become clearer, the encryption field is expected to usher in explosive growth. The value of Bitcoin as "digital gold" has been accepted by global investors, and the opportunity for Ethereum and Solana is coming. It is the critical moment for them to show the world "how Internet currency can truly drive the global economy."