Artemis defines total economic activity, or TEA, as the combined value of chain fees and MEV, settlement volume and application fees. In practical terms, that means the measure tries to capture the scale of business being conducted on-chain rather than focusing only on fees paid to the network. Artemis argues this offers a wider lens for judging blockchain economies, especially on lower-cost networks where heavy usage does not always translate into high fee income.
The milestone comes as Solana continues to post strong numbers across several parts of its ecosystem. Blockworks Research said Solana’s stablecoin transfer volume reached $2.1 trillion in the first quarter, up about 60% from both the previous quarter and a year earlier, while non-vote transactions climbed to 10.1 billion, another high. Median transaction fees stayed near $0.0005, underscoring the network’s appeal for high-frequency trading, payments and consumer-facing applications.
That breadth matters because Solana’s latest rise does not appear to be driven by one isolated pocket of speculation. CoinGecko said Solana remained the leading chain for spot decentralised exchange trading in the first quarter, with a 30.6% share, even though trading volumes fell quarter on quarter in line with a weaker market. Blockworks also pointed to expanding activity in tokenised assets, real-world asset lending, launchpads and mobile-linked applications, indicating that the chain’s growth story now stretches beyond memecoin-driven bursts of traffic that have previously dominated perceptions of the network.
Still, the trillion-dollar figure should be read with care. TEA is an analytic framework created by Artemis rather than a standardised accounting metric used across finance, and crypto data providers often differ in how they classify settlement flows, transfers and economically meaningful activity. Artemis itself says settlement volume is the dominant component of TEA, including decentralised exchange volume, NFT activity and peer-to-peer transfers. That makes the measure useful for showing scale, but it can also inflate headline totals relative to more conservative yardsticks focused only on fees, revenue or net value creation.
Even with that caveat, the broader pattern is difficult to ignore. Solana’s network appears to be handling rising transaction intensity while keeping costs low and throughput high. Blockworks said non-vote transactions per second averaged around 1,300 in the quarter and noted that during a January 31 volatility event the network handled a peak of 4,366 TPS while median fees remained subdued. For backers of Solana, that strengthens the argument that its architecture is better suited than some rivals for trading-heavy and retail-heavy workloads.
The timing is also notable. CoinGecko said the total crypto market capitalisation fell 20.4% in the first quarter to $2.4 trillion, while spot trading volume on the top 10 centralised exchanges dropped 39.1% to $2.7 trillion. Against that backdrop, Solana’s on-chain figures suggest activity may have migrated toward decentralised venues and payment rails rather than disappearing altogether. That does not automatically translate into higher token prices or stronger long-term valuations, but it does point to durable user demand inside the network’s economy.
Another driver is stablecoins. Artemis has argued that blockchains are increasingly functioning as self-contained digital economies, and Solana’s ability to process high-value transfers at low cost has made it attractive for stablecoin movement, trading settlement and app-level payments. Blockworks said the circulating supply of stablecoins on Solana stayed just under $16 billion in the quarter, led by USDC, USDT and USDG, while transfer volumes rose sharply. That combination suggests higher usage intensity even without a dramatic jump in the stock of stablecoins parked on the network.
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