Solana TVL has soared to a historic high of 12.1 billion USD! Institutional funds are pouring in, and the ETF craze is driving the ecosystem's explosion.

Solana (SOL) has set a new historical record. According to DefiLlama data, on September 9th, Solana's Total Value Locked (TVL) climbed to $12.11 billion, surpassing the nearly $12 billion peak on January 23rd of this year. Behind this surge, there is not only the comprehensive rise of DeFi protocols but also the strong entry of institutional investors and the driving of the ETF narrative.

Decentralized Finance protocol is in full bloom

(Source: DefiLlama)

In the past 30 days, Solana's Total Value Locked rose by 15%, with 7 out of the 8 major protocols having a TVL exceeding 1 billion USD recording double-digit pumps:

Jupiter: $3.3 billion (+33.6%)

Jito: 3.2 billion USD

Kamino: $3.1 billion (+3%)

Sanctum: 2.894 billion USD

Binance Liquidity Staking SOL: 2.5 billion USD

Raydium: 2.4 billion USD

Marinade: 2.2 billion USD

Drift: 1.3 billion USD

This wave of rise has allowed Solana to firmly establish itself as one of the public chains with the highest Total Value Locked in the world, with a TVL scale that is more than twice that of Ethereum's largest Layer-2 Base (4.8 billion USD).

Institutional funds become a key driver

Recently, multiple institutional actions have brought strong capital inflows to Solana:

Forward Industries announced a $1.6 billion investment in SOL, supported by private placements from Multicoin Capital, Galaxy Digital, and Jump Crypto.

SOL Strategies was approved on September 5 and officially listed on NASDAQ on September 9, focusing on investment opportunities in the Solana ecosystem.

Multiple institutions are preparing to launch a stake-backed ETF linked to Solana in the United States.

ETF narrative heating up

May 2025: Canary and Marinade join forces to apply for a Solana ETF supported by liquid staking.

August 5: SEC states that liquid staking tokens are classified as "receipts" rather than securities, clearing the final hurdle for ETF approval.

August 22: VanEck and Jito applied for the JitoSOL-supported ETF, becoming the first ETF application in the United States fully backed by liquidity-staked tokens.

These actions mean that institutional investors will be able to directly participate in the growth of the Solana ecosystem through compliant products, providing long-term support for Total Value Locked and token prices.

Why is Solana favored?

High-performance public chain: low transaction fees, high throughput, suitable for Decentralized Finance, NFT, GameFi and other diverse applications.

Ecosystem Diversification: DEXs like Jupiter, Raydium, and liquidity staking protocols drive Total Value Locked.

Institution-friendly: Enhanced regulatory clarity, lowering the entry barriers for financial products like ETFs.

Conclusion

Solana's TVL has surpassed 12.1 billion USD, which is not only the result of the overall rise of the DeFi ecosystem but also a result driven by institutional funds and the ETF narrative. With more staking ETF applications and institutional investments landing, Solana is expected to continue expanding its market share in 2025, becoming a public chain giant on par with Ethereum.