In a surprising turn of events, Ethereum has reclaimed its top spot as the leading decentralized exchange (DEX) chain in March, surpassing Solana for the first time since September. This shift occurred during a bearish market phase, especially affecting the memecoin sector.

The change in leadership saw Ethereum outperforming Solana, causing a noticeable drop in activity on Solana-based DEX platforms like Raydium and Pump.fun. Despite this success for Ethereum, its native token, ether, experienced an 18% decline in March due to inflationary tokenomics and the growing popularity of Layer 2 solutions.

Throughout March, Raydium struggled to reach daily trading volumes exceeding $1 billion, a stark contrast from its peak of $13 billion on Jan. 18 as indicated by DefiLlama data.

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Ethereum Reclaims No. 1 Spot as Leading DEX Chain for First Time Since September, Overtakes Solana

The shift in leadership occurred amidst a bearish market sentiment, particularly within the memecoin sector.

• Ethereum reclaimed its position as the leading smart contract blockchain for decentralized exchange (DEX) trading in March, surpassing Solana for the first time since September.
• The shift in leadership occurred amidst a bearish market sentiment, particularly within the memecoin sector, leading to a significant decline in activity on Solana-based DEX, Raydium and Pump.fun.
• Despite Ethereum's outperformance, its ether token fell over 18% in March, attributed to inflationary tokenomics and the growing popularity of Layer 2 solutions.

Throughout March, Raydium did not log a single day with trading volume exceeding $1 billion, highlighting a considerable decrease from its record-high of $13 billion on Jan. 18, DefiLlama data show.