Ethereum is losing momentum, Solana is gaining speed: Factors shaping the market share race.

Solana (SOL) has officially surpassed Ethereum (ETH), rising to become the leading blockchain in terms of staking market capitalization. This achievement not only marks an important milestone but also reflects the increasingly deepening differentiation in how investors evaluate yield opportunities, risk levels, and participation in the two ecosystems.

Two-thirds of the SOL supply is participating in staking

Currently, about 67–70% of the total circulating supply of SOL, equivalent to 410–420 million SOL, is being staked through a network of more than 1,300 validators and 1.2 million delegators.

With the current market price, the staking value of Solana reaches 67–70 billion USD, marking the first time it has surpassed Ethereum.

Notably, the participation rate is incredibly impressive: nearly two-thirds of the SOL supply has been locked in staking. This figure not only reflects the strong confidence of the community in the operational mechanism and reward model of Solana but also indicates the growing appeal of this ecosystem.

Source: X## Ethereum remains strong, but is lagging behind

Nevertheless, Ethereum still asserts its dominant position with about 34–35 million ETH being staked, accounting for 28–30% of the total supply, supported by more than one million validators.

The staking market capitalization of Ethereum currently ranges between 65–68 billion USD, maintaining a close pursuit compared to competitors. However, the barrier to entry remains quite high as a minimum of 32 ETH is needed to operate a validator, while the majority of the network depends on liquid staking providers like Lido (LDO), which currently holds nearly 88% market share.

The staking yield of Ethereum is also less attractive, only around 2.9–3% APY according to data from StakingRewards. Nevertheless, the periodic token burning mechanism from EIP-1559 is seen as an important factor in controlling supply, especially during periods of active network operation.

Why is Solana leading?

The prominent advantage of Solana stems from a key factor: superior yield. SOL stakers are currently enjoying an APY ranging from 8.3% to 11.5% — driven by the network's inflation reward mechanism along with MEV tips from Jito (JTO), a platform that accounts for over 90% of the stake of validators.

Although the inflation of Solana will gradually decrease over time, the current double-digit yield is still enough to make SOL more attractive than ETH.

This attraction quickly spread throughout the entire ecosystem. According to data from CoinGlass, Solana's open contracts surpassed the 12 billion USD mark in just the past week, reflecting the increasingly strong participation of institutions — a key factor supporting the upward trend of SOL.

Source: CoinGlassNot stopping there, data from DeFiLlama shows that the Total Value Locked (TVL) on Solana has reached 11.49 billion USD, a clear testament to the renewed confidence from both traders and developers.

Source: DefiLlama## Future Prospects

Currently, Solana is temporarily holding an advantage in the staking race. However, whether this position can be maintained in the long term remains a big question, as the results will depend on the upcoming upgrades of Ethereum, as well as Solana's ability to maintain attractive yields without leading to long-term inflation risks.

SN_Nour