Scaling on-chain: Can Solana and Revolut beat Ethereum in 2026?

Beyond institutionalizing crypto assets, 2025 has shaped up to be a bullish year for bringing blockchain use-cases into the mainstream. Think integration into the payments market or partnerships with financial firms.

No surprise that L1s are racing to grab adoption. Developer activity has jumped this year, too. On-chain metrics show total monthly active developers at 30,000, with a double-digit increase in full-time devs.

Among the top chains, Ethereum [ETH] leads with 3,778 full-time devs, while Solana [SOL] ranks second with 1,276. That said, with ETH’s Fusaka upgrade making headlines, SOL isn’t exactly standing still either.

Revolut partnership highlights Solana’s real-world use case

The payments market has been the hotspot for use-cases this year.

Take Ripple [XRP], for example. It’s been signing big partnerships with firms, promising near-instant transactions. With McKinsey projecting this sector to hit $3 trillion by 2029, these moves make perfect sense.

Consequently, more L1s are now jumping into the space, with DeFi becoming a meaningful revenue engine. Solana is no exception. Its recent partnership with Revolut has pushed it into the payments ecosystem.

For context, Revolut is Europe’s leading neobank, with over 65 million users and 15 million crypto accounts. By integrating with Solana, Revolut users can now move crypto more cost-effectively across SOL rails.

From a strategic standpoint, this move highlights Solana’s “real” use case in banking, showing off its on-chain strengths: High throughput, low fees, high TPS, and larger block limits.

However, the timing is interesting too. It’s been less than 48 hours since Ethereum’s Fusaka upgrade went live. In this context, is the Solana–Revolut partnership really just a coincidence?

Solana widens its usage lead as Ethereum levels up

Ethereum upgrades have historically boosted its on-chain usability.

The post-Pectra rally showed up both in price action and on-chain activity. Notably, we’re seeing a similar response with Fusaka as well.

It’s still early for meaningful conclusions, but the pre-upgrade buildup is already visible.

On-chain data shows Ethereum’s 7-day moving average of transactions jumping by 180k in the final week of November. Solana, meanwhile, continues to hold its lead with 74 million non-vote transactions.

In essence, even with two major back-to-back upgrades for Ethereum in 2025, Solana is still handling about 47× more daily transactions, underscoring its “relatively” stronger network fundamentals.

Seen in that light, the Solana–Revolut partnership feels like more than a coincidence. Instead, it reflects Solana’s growing credibility and the confidence major fintech players now place in its performance.

However, this divergence still isn’t showing up in price action. So does that make SOL undervalued compared to ETH? And with Ethereum’s Fusaka upgrade now live, is this gap only set to grow as we head into 2026?

2026 outlook: SOL’s fundamentals vs. ETH valuation

2025 has also brought a key valuation question back into the spotlight.

Solana and Ethereum sit right at the center of it. Both chains have strong use cases, solid on-chain fundamentals, and active communities. And yet, ETH still holds a clear valuation edge over SOL.

The SOL/ETH ratio makes this gap obvious. The pair is down around 20% this year, marking its weakest annual stretch since the 2022 bear market, when the ratio saw a staggering 80%+ pullback.

Heading into 2026, this divergence looks set to take center stage.

As noted earlier, Solana’s recent string of bullish events (like ETF launches and key partnerships) is being driven by its strengthening fundamentals, showing a network that’s scaling faster than the market seems to realize.

That said, next year could finally see this gap start to close. 

With Solana’s Alpenglow upgrade set for Q1 2026, it might be the chain’s defining moment, kicking off a valuation cycle that better reflects its on-chain performance and growing adoption versus Ethereum.

Final Thoughts

• Solana’s growing on-chain fundamentals and key partnerships (like Revolut) highlight its scaling potential.
• The SOL/ETH divergence, coupled with the upcoming Alpenglow upgrade in Q1 2026, may mark a pivotal moment for Solana’s valuation.