Solana shrugs off a bearish March

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We’ve got a fresh market update from Blockworks Research , and if it makes anything clear, it’s this: March was not kind to Solana.

Revenue cratered 87% from January’s all-time high, DEX volumes dropped 74%, and SIMD 228 failed to pass . 

SIMD 228’s loss wasn’t due to a lack of effort. The proposal sparked the highest stake participation of any vote in Solana’s history (74.3%). It drew input from institutional players like Coinbase, Kraken and Bybit for the first time.

And while small validators mostly opposed it, native builders like Helius, Jupiter and Jito overwhelmingly supported the change; a sort of philosophical split between those extracting yield today and those betting on Solana’s long-term sustainability. 

Small validators (s < 0.05%) voted “No” by a wide margin. Large ones (0.5% to 1.0%) were 85% in favor. Strategic abstention became a weapon: Voting “No” counted toward quorum, so many opponents waited until the last minute, hoping the vote would fail without their input.

SIMD 123, which introduces protocol-level revenue sharing, did succeed, though, showing validators are open to changes that increase optionality rather than those which remove incentives outright. SIMD 248, proposing TPU feedback to reduce spam and improve UX, and SIMD 268, which raises the CPI nesting limit to deepen composability, are both in discussion.

Turning to DeFi, Solana apps pulled in $131m in revenue, maintaining their lead across all chains and setting a record-high revenue-to-REV ratio of 1.84. Institutional momentum hasn’t disappeared. SOL’s open interest in CEXs is near all-time highs. CME launched SOL futures in March, which are often a prelude to a spot ETF. Meanwhile, bridge inflows from other ecosystems reached $158m despite a market-wide cooldown.

Takeaway: March was painful, yes. But also a pressure test — one Solana didn’t fail. Engagement is up, institutional interest is sticky, and apps are still building. If this is what a lousy month looks like, the ecosystem is in far better shape than the charts suggest. SOL prices remain volatile at publication time, hovering around $118.

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