Solana Gains Wall Street Momentum as BlackRock, Visa and Citi Expand Onchain Push

Solana (SOL) has strengthened its position in institutional tokenisation and payments in Q1 2026, with real-world asset lending (RWAs), stablecoin settlement and tokenised trading activity rising even as broader crypto trading cooled.

According to a report by Messari, Solana captured 41% of onchain spot trading volume during the quarter, ahead of Ethereum and its layer-2 networks combined. Likewise, total Solana DEX spot volume was US$284.5 billion (AU$395.5 billion), down about 18% from the previous quarter and about 50% from Q1 2025’s memecoin-driven peak, but the mix of activity shifted toward stablecoins and tokenised assets.

Moreover, Solana DEXs processed US$1.3 billion (AU$1.81 billion) in tokenised asset volume in Q1, up 164% quarter over quarter and a new all-time high. 

Stablecoin transfer volume reached US$2.1 trillion (AU$2.92 trillion), up about 60% both quarter over quarter and year over year, excluding flash loans and other inorganic volume.

Read more: Wall Street’s Tokenisation Boom Runs Into Infrastructure Challenges 

RWAs Drive Lending

Real-world assets became the clearest institutional growth line for Solana, ending Q1 with US$1.23 billion (AU$1.71 billion) in RWA lending deposits, up 115% quarter over quarter and above Ethereum’s US$1.13 billion (AU$1.57 billion), according to the report.

Solana Foundation’s March roundup said total RWA value on the network crossed US$2 billion (AU$2.78 billion), while RWA holders reached 182,000 by the end of the month. The foundation also said Solana RWA lending deposits reached US$1.2 billion (AU$1.67 billion) and the network settled roughly 94% of all-time onchain tokenised equity spot volume by late March.

The product base is expanding beyond crypto-native lending. xStocks accounted for 41.5% of Q1 tokenised asset volume, offering tokenised public equities through a Swiss tracker certificate structure, while PreStocks ranked second with 35.8% of volume through pre-IPO exposure.

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