If you've been keeping an eye on the crypto markets this year, you might have noticed Solana making some solid moves. A recent post from data analytics platform Token Terminal highlights just how well the network's native token, SOL, has been performing. According to their chart, SOL is up about 24% year-to-date (YTD) as of late September 2025, and it's left all the major application tokens in its ecosystem in the dust. That's a pretty strong vote of confidence in the platform itself.

Breaking Down the Chart

The visualization shared in the original tweet plots the percentage price changes since the beginning of 2025 for SOL and a bunch of key tokens built on Solana. SOL's line stands out in purple, climbing steadily with some volatility but ending up positive. Meanwhile, the gray lines representing other tokens mostly trend downward or hover around zero, showing they've underperformed.

Year-to-date, or YTD, simply means the performance from January 1 to the current date—in this case, up to around July 2025 on the chart, but the data likely extends to the post date in September. It's a common metric in finance to gauge how an asset is doing over the calendar year.

Key Tokens in the Spotlight

The chart calls out several prominent projects in the Solana ecosystem. Here's a quick rundown of what they do, in case you're new to them:

• Marinade: A liquid staking protocol where you can stake SOL and get mSOL in return, which you can use elsewhere while earning rewards.
• Metaplex: Powers NFTs on Solana, handling creation, sales, and royalties—think of it as the backbone for digital collectibles.
• Drift Protocol: A decentralized exchange (DEX) focused on perpetual futures trading, allowing leveraged bets on crypto prices.
• Raydium: An automated market maker (AMM) DEX that integrates with Serum for efficient token swaps.
• Jupiter: A swap aggregator that finds the best rates across multiple DEXs on Solana.
• Sanctum: Another liquid staking solution, emphasizing composability in DeFi.
• Jito: Specializes in maximal extractable value (MEV) infrastructure, helping validators capture more rewards.
• Kamino: A lending and borrowing platform with automated vaults for yield optimization.
• Orca: A user-friendly DEX with concentrated liquidity pools, similar to Uniswap but on Solana.
• Wormhole: A cross-chain bridge connecting Solana to other blockchains like Ethereum.
• Helium: A decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN) for IoT devices, recently migrated to Solana.
• Tensor: An NFT marketplace aggregator, making it easier to buy and sell across platforms.

These aren't meme tokens per se, but they're the building blocks that power a lot of the fun stuff on Solana, including the explosive meme coin scene.

Why This Matters for Meme Tokens

At Meme Insider, we're all about meme coins, and Solana has been a hotbed for them thanks to low fees and fast transactions. Platforms like Pump.fun have launched thousands of memes, from cat-themed tokens to celebrity-inspired ones. When SOL performs well, it often boosts the entire ecosystem—higher SOL prices mean more liquidity, more users, and potentially bigger pumps for memes.

The "platform thesis" mentioned in the tweet refers to the idea that investing in the base layer (like SOL) can be smarter than picking individual apps, especially in volatile markets. If Solana keeps outperforming, it could attract more developers and capital, leading to even more meme token innovation. We've seen this play out before: strong layer-1 performance trickles down to the wild world of memes.

What's Driving SOL's Strength?

While the chart doesn't dive into reasons, we can speculate based on recent trends. Solana has bounced back from past network outages with upgrades like Firedancer for better reliability. Adoption in DeFi and NFTs remains robust, and integrations with real-world assets (RWAs) are gaining traction. Plus, in a year where broader crypto markets might be choppy, Solana's speed and cost advantages stand out.

If you're trading meme tokens on Solana, keep an eye on SOL's price—it's like the tide that lifts all boats. For more insights, check out our knowledge base on Solana-based memes or dive into Token Terminal's dashboards for real-time data.

This kind of analysis reminds us why tracking ecosystem health is key for anyone in blockchain. What's your take on Solana's run this year? Drop a comment below!