Well, it looks like Solana’s 5th birthday wasn’t exactly the party everyone hoped for. While there’s plenty to celebrate in terms of milestones, the token’s price and trading volume are singing a different tune — and not the good kind.

Solana officially hit the big five on March 16, marking half a decade since its launch. In a celebratory post on X (formerly Twitter), the team highlighted some pretty impressive stats: 408 billion transactions processed, over 1,300 validators, and a combined DEX trading volume of a staggering $987 billion. Sounds impressive, right? Well, here’s the kicker — that trading volume has taken a serious nosedive recently.

After January’s record-breaking numbers (right before Trump took office in the U.S.), trading activity on Solana’s decentralized exchanges (DEXes) has cooled off big time. According to DefiLlama, Solana’s total DEX volume now sits at around $1.1 billion. To put that in perspective, on January 18, it was pushing nearly $36 billion. Ouch.

That drop in volume isn’t just a number — it’s hitting Solana’s bottom line. Network revenue has plummeted about 90% since that January high. Naturally, the price has followed suit. SOL has shed around 5% in the past 24 hours, trading at $129.34 at the time of writing.

And the pain doesn’t stop there. Derivatives markets saw around $13.3 million in liquidations over the last day, with long investors taking the brunt of the hit. The frustrating part? Just before this birthday crash, SOL had actually climbed to a weekly high of $136 — it almost looked like a comeback was in the cards.

But hey, there might be a silver lining. Hopes are high that Solana Spot ETFs could soon get the green light in the U.S., with several asset managers already filing applications. Even BlackRock is rumored to be in the mix — and if that happens, it could be the boost Solana needs to get back in the game.

So yeah, Solana’s birthday bash wasn’t all balloons and confetti — but maybe the afterparty will bring better news.

4o