Solana DEX trading volume drops to a new low—can SOL hold the $80 support level?

Gate News message. In March 2026, the Solana network has recently been under pressure from declining trading volumes on decentralized exchanges (DEXs), and its native token SOL price fell from $93 to $82.98 last week, putting it just one step away from the key support level of $80. Over the past week, SOL has underperformed the broader crypto market, repeatedly tested the support level, and raised traders’ concerns about a further drop to $75.

According to DefiLlama data, Solana DEX trading volume fell to $55.5 billion in March, reaching the lowest level since September 2024. Network fees also declined accordingly, dropping from $30 million in January to $18.5 million, a decrease of 42%. At the same time, Ethereum and its Layer-2 ecosystem (such as Base, Arbitrum, Polygon, and Optimism) have increased their market share, challenging Solana’s DEX dominance—one of the main factors behind SOL’s recent pullback.

Despite this, Solana continues to perform well in high-revenue DApps. In the past 30 days, a total of 13 months’ revenue among its DApps reached or exceeded $1 million, leading Ethereum by 11 and BNB Chain and Base by 4 each. High-revenue DApps not only incentivize developers, but also offer potential profit opportunities for investors, supporting SOL’s price stability. Active revenues from protocols such as Pump, Helium Network, and ORE Protocol further reinforce the resilience of the Solana ecosystem.

Solana, with total value locked (TVL) of $6.3 billion, may lag behind Ethereum’s $54.1 billion, but a healthy ecosystem and high-yield DApps provide a basis for SOL to maintain the $80 support. Analysts note that although DEX trading volume is a key driver of network fees, the sustainability of protocols within the ecosystem shows that investors still have confidence in SOL’s long-term outlook; a short-term pullback does not necessarily mean the price will fall below $75.