Scaling On-Chain: Can Solana and Revolut Beat Ethereum in 2026?

2025 has become a breakthrough year for real-world blockchain adoption — from payments to fintech integrations. As use-cases expand, L1s are now racing for the next wave of users and developers.

▫ Developer activity keeps climbing, with 30,000 monthly active devs and strong double-digit growth in full-time contributors.

▫ Ethereum leads with 3,778 full-time devs, followed by Solana with 1,276, showing a healthy but tight market.

Revolut x Solana: Real-World Utility Goes Live

One of the biggest moves this year came from Solana’s push into payments.

▫ Revolut, Europe’s top neobank with 65M users and 15M crypto accounts, integrated Solana for faster, cheaper crypto transfers.

▫ This highlights Solana’s core strengths: high throughput, ultra-low fees, massive TPS capacity, and larger block limits.

▫ The timing is notable — landing less than 48 hours after Ethereum’s Fusaka upgrade.

Coincidence? Or strategy?

Ethereum Levels Up While Solana Widens Its Usage Lead

Ethereum’s Fusaka upgrade is already boosting on-chain activity.

▫ ETH’s 7-day MA of transactions jumped by 180k in late November.

▫ Meanwhile, Solana kept its lead with 74M non-vote transactions, handling ~47× more daily traffic.

▫ This signals a widening gap between usage and valuation.

2026: Solana’s Fundamentals vs. Ethereum’s Valuation

Despite strong fundamentals, Solana still trades at a clear discount to Ethereum.

▫ SOL/ETH ratio is down ~20% in 2025, its weakest year since 2022.

▫ Yet Solana keeps stacking catalysts — ETFs, partnerships, and scaling upgrades.

▫ The upcoming Alpenglow upgrade (Q1 2026) could be the turning point that aligns SOL’s valuation with its real performance.

Final Take

▫ Solana’s growth in payments, dev activity, and on-chain usage is accelerating.

▫ The Solana–Revolut integration is more than news — it signals rising institutional confidence.

▫ With Alpenglow ahead, 2026 may be the year the SOL/ETH valuation gap finally begins to close.