Solana News Update: Solana's DeFi Expansion Poses a Threat to Ethereum's Leading Position as Buybacks Drive Further Development

The DeFi sector is experiencing significant changes as Solana-based projects such as Pump.fun emerge as influential forces for the 2025–2030 cryptocurrency era. With increased token repurchases, heightened network engagement, and strategic rivalry transforming the landscape, market experts are reassessing the future price outlook for Solana’s core tokens.

Pump.fun, a prominent DeFi application on

, has by implementing assertive token buyback initiatives. Since July 15, 2025, the platform has reacquired $173.7 million in PUMP tokens, cutting the available supply by 10.928%. This approach, together with Solana’s soaring decentralized exchange (DEX) transaction volumes—reaching $5.11 billion in daily trades—has . The buyback activity aligns with a broader movement of capital retention in Solana’s DeFi ecosystem, as participants increasingly favor yield opportunities over simply holding stablecoins .

At the same time, Solana’s influence in DeFi continues to grow. By November 2025, the platform’s DEX trading volumes surpassed those of

($3.8 billion) and Chain ($2.95 billion), . This is fueled by Solana’s development activity score of 21.5, outpacing Ethereum’s 14.3, and a three-day increase of 2.9 million SOL staked, . Experts point out that institutional investments and broader economic factors will likely influence whether Solana’s value can surpass the $180 barrier, which currently has a to the $150 support level.

Although Ethereum still holds 67.65% of the total value locked in DeFi, it is facing increasing competition from Solana and

. —a vital area within DeFi—has narrowed Ethereum’s previous 55.55% dominance, emphasizing the value of affordable and efficient networks. While Solana’s 8.9% share is much smaller than Ethereum’s, it demonstrates a rising demand for scalability, especially among individual users and developers. “The rivalry is pushing Ethereum to evolve,” a blockchain analyst commented, “but Solana’s expanding developer community and active address numbers indicate it’s becoming a permanent fixture.”

Wider market developments add further layers.

into prediction markets, launching FanDuel Predicts in December 2025 to offer contracts on sports and financial outcomes. This initiative brings fresh liquidity to platforms with DeFi-like features, potentially broadening capital movement. Likewise, —driven by lottery deals in California and Belgium—shows how traditional gaming is adapting to digital trends, though it remains separate from crypto-native platforms.

Pump.fun’s future depends on maintaining scarcity through ongoing buybacks while capitalizing on Solana’s technology. With growing institutional interest in Solana and technical signals pointing to short-term price swings, investors are divided between caution and optimism. “The main challenge will be whether Pump.fun can retain its users amid broader economic uncertainties,” a crypto strategist observed.

As 2025 progresses, the interaction between token economics, network efficiency, and regulatory changes will shape Pump.fun’s future. For now, Solana’s DeFi sector is poised for a defining moment.