Solana shined amid record-breaking DEX trading volume in December.
DEXes set new monthly volume records in spot and derivatives markets in December, with Solana-based protocols dominating the sector, according to DefiLlama.
As of December 30, on-chain spot trading volume reached $451.5 billion, a 19% increase from November, when the previous monthly trading volume recorded $379.5 billion.
Meanwhile, on-chain derivatives moved $325.3 billion over the same period, a 25% monthly increase and more than $10 billion more than the previous high recorded in March.
Solana maintained its lead in spot volume for the third consecutive month, reaching nearly $112 billion. This is $15 billion more than Binance Smart Chain (BSC), the second most used chain for spot trading ($96.2 billion in total volume). This is a 166% increase from last month.
Ethereum is the third most used blockchain by spot market traders, with monthly trading volume of $86.6 billion, up 21.5% from November.
Despite maintaining its lead in the spot market, Solana lost ground to BSC and Ethereum with trading volume down 15.7% this month.
Traders circulating liquidity in search of new cryptocurrency stories may be responsible for Solana’s decline in spot trading volume. Volumes are expected to decline slightly, as the chain peaked at $132.3 billion last month, the highest ever on-chain spot trading.
The rise of on-chain derivatives
In particular, on-chain derivatives trading has increased this year. In 2023, these DEXes recorded approximately $73 billion in transactions. In comparison, the lowest monthly trading volume for on-chain derivatives this year was $138.3 billion in October.
Similar to Solana’s dominance in the spot market, Hyperliquid has also topped the on-chain derivatives trading market for four consecutive months.
Blockchain by application has steadily increased transaction volume, reaching a peak of $152.4 billion on December 30. This volume is 101% higher than the amount registered last month.
In addition to Hyperliquid’s outstanding performance in on-chain derivatives trading, Solana has maintained second place since October.
Solana’s derivatives trading volume has fallen 21% since November, but as of December 30, monthly volume reached $34.1 billion.
