•  SOL could flip ETH in 2025, per a Delphi Digital report.
• The research firm cited strong metrics, protocol alignment, and superior culture as key catalysts. 

In the past few months, Solana [SOL] has eclipsed Ethereum on key metrics like daily DEX trading volume, users, fees, and price performance. 

According to crypto research firm Delphi Digital (DD), Solana’s outperformance trend could persist in 2025 and flip ETH as the top layer 1 solution. The analytic firm stated,

“Trump’s memecoin launch on Solana has fueled debates about whether Solana could overtake Ethereum as the top L1. Delphi sees SOL as a strong contender to surpass Ethereum.” 

The firm cited four key fronts to support its SOL’s outperformance thesis.

The first indicator was metrics, and SOL topped key indicators apart from TVL (total value locked), which measures the number of locked funds in the DeFi ecosystem.

SOL’s TVL ($12B) was only 13% of ETH’s ($86B) — A 7x more locked funds than Solana. This showed high investor confidence in Ethereum relative to Solana. 

But DD noted that Solana’s great user experience (UX) and scaling solutions through Firedancer could boost its lead on Ethereum on key metrics.

“Solana’s outperformance will continue to be driven by two factors. Superior UX & better content. While Ethereum has become more fragmented with L2s, Solana has one unified ecosystem.” 

Additionally, the DD report added that Ethereum’s perceived ‘lack of protocol direction’ could give Solana an upper hand.

Despite the recent restructuring at the Ethereum Foundation (EF), the analysts were uncertain of the impact in the medium-term. 

“Solana’s leadership emphasizes pragmatic results while Ethereum prioritizes philosophical and long-term goals. Vitalik recently did announce a big shift in the EF leadership structure, but results remain to be seen.”

Finally, protocol alignment was another factor that could tip Solana’s win in 2025. Per DD, Ethereum’s L2 approach has successfully driven expansion but hasn’t benefited its Layer 1, unlike Solana’s design. 

“From the start, Solana has prioritized building and optimizing its L1 while Ethereum has outsourced various functions of its L1 as part of its commitment to decentralization.”

 The SOL/ETH ratio, which tracks SOL’s relative price performance against ETH, has been on an uptrend since October 2023. This meant that SOL’s has outperformed ETH on the price front over a year. 

Despite ETH’s brief lead during the December sell-off, SOL bounced back strongly in January. In fact, SOL eclipsed ETH by 36% last week and defended the rising channel pattern.

At press time, SOL was valued at $263, up 38% on year-to-date (YTD), and could tap $350. On the contrary, ETH was down 0.8% on YTD and was valued at $3.3K.