Solana generated higher user fees than Ethereum on September 22, according to DefiLlama dashboard data reviewed by CryptoSlate. Solana’s 24-hour chain fees reached $1.1 million, compared to Ethereum’s $649,423 over the same period.
Ethereum, however, reported a larger dollar burn. The network burned $226,298 in 24-hour fees, while Solana burned $117,138. Over a 7-day window, the gap widened: Ethereum burned $761,849 versus Solana’s $698,884. On a 30-day basis, Ethereum burned $2.80 million against Solana’s $2.66 million.
The divergence reflects structural differences in how each network distributes fees. Solana sends half of base fees to validators and half to burning, while validators receive all priority fees. Ethereum burns execution base fees and blob fees, with priority tips flowing to validators instead.
Solana’s fee generation advantage extended across longer timeframes. Over 7 days, Solana collected $5.93 million in chain fees versus Ethereum’s $3.09 million. The 30-day comparison showed $23.58 million for Solana and $12.04 million for Ethereum.
Application revenue also favored Solana. The network generated $7.7 million in 24-hour app revenue compared to Ethereum’s $1.9 million. Over 30 days, Solana app fees totaled $18.2 million against Ethereum’s $8.5 million.
Fee Distribution and Validator Incentives
Solana’s fee structure changed in July 2025 when Jito, the network’s staking infrastructure project, announced a live upgrade allowing validators to distribute priority fees to stakers. This mechanism enables validators to pass rewards directly to token holders who delegate stake, creating an additional income stream beyond base fee distributions.
“The split shows that users’ spending can reach validators and applications without producing an equivalent benefit for someone simply holding the network’s coin,” according to CryptoSlate’s analysis.
DefiLlama’s adapters estimate portions of reported burns rather than providing fully reconciled measurements, meaning the burn figures carry inherent uncertainty. Neither network’s burn data should be treated as a complete accounting of all fee destruction.
Market Context
At the time of the snapshot, Ethereum’s market capitalization stood at $335 billion, while Solana’s was $69 billion, according to the data reviewed.
Solana’s fee economics have become a focal point for network upgrades. The SGP-0002 proposal calls for increasing annual disinflation from 15% to 30%, contingent on SIMD-0550 acceptance and activation. This change would alter how new SOL enters circulation, potentially affecting validator economics and staking rewards over time.
The comparison underscores how fee generation and token burning operate independently of market capitalization. Solana’s smaller market cap did not prevent it from outpacing Ethereum in absolute fee collection, though Ethereum’s larger burn volumes reflect its higher base fee burn rate and transaction throughput over the measured periods.
