Solana gains, Ethereum dips: What September tells us about Q4 trends
Key Takeaways
Why has SOL outperformed ETH in late Q3?
Institutional flows, ramping DAT adoption, and Solana’s on-chain upgrades drove value motion, lifting SOL 4.06% versus ETH’s -5.68% in September.
What’s subsequent for the SOL/ETH ratio?
A breakout above 0.055 might retest Q2 highs, with SOL’s dominance and sector-leading flows preserving its This autumn outperformance story intact.
September marked a predominantly bearish month for the crypto market.
VanEck reported that out of the 35 main native blockchain tokens tracked, 23 skilled a decline in worth, representing a 65% share of tokens falling through the month. Nevertheless, Solana [SOL] bucked the pattern.
$2 billion in new stablecoins ($14.3 billion whole), 60% share in tokenized shares, and main upgrades like Alpenglow and Firedancer, fueled SOL’s power versus Ethereum [ETH]. However can This autumn maintain the momentum going?
Solana DATs closing the hole on Ethereum treasuries
September noticed digital asset treasuries (DATs) proceed their development.
Whereas Bitmine Immersion (BNMR) nonetheless leads with $11 billion+ in ETH, Solana is slowly catching up. In September, Ahead Industries ($1.5 billion) and Helius ($500 million) went dwell, pushing SOL demand.
In reality, Solana DATs are actually estimated to carry 2.5% of whole SOL provide, with extra rumored to be forming. Technically, that’s a 233%+ soar in SOL treasury holdings, up from 4.2 million at first of September.
Supply: Blockworks
Ethereum DATs, by comparability, grew simply 35% to 4.2 million.
Technically, Solana’s accumulation was roughly six occasions that of Ethereum. Nonetheless, ETH treasuries symbolize 3.56% of provide, which is 42% greater than SOL’s, due to ETH’s tighter 120.7 million provide vs. SOL’s 542 million.
This divergence issues. Tokenomics could also be muting SOL’s value punch for now, however beneath the hood, it’s giving ETH an actual run, with September clearly ramping this pattern and hinting at related outperformance in This autumn.
The race for on-chain dominance heats up
Each Solana and Ethereum are deep within the improve season.
Solana’s Alpenglow improve handed with 99% approval, chopping block finality from 12 seconds to 150 milliseconds, whereas the Firedancer improve will take away the utmost compute unit restrict per block.
It appears to be like like institutional flows are already front-running the on-chain impression of those upgrades. Solana’s RWA sector is up 40% within the final 30 days, about 3x Ethereum’s development, signaling rising aggressive stress.
Supply: RWAxyz
In the meantime, Ethereum’s scaling roadmap is getting into its subsequent part.
The deliberate Fusaka improve in December 2025 is designed to enhance Layer-2 blockchain scalability, reducing prices and supporting broader L2 adoption, which is a core a part of Ethereum’s ecosystem.
However will Solana’s 2026 Alpenglow improve throw a wrench within the works? Proper now, it’s wanting seemingly, with SOL outperforming, RWA flows surging, and DAT adoption ramping, placing actual stress on ETH’s dominance.
SOL/ETH breakout set to outline This autumn management
Regardless of Solana’s inflated supply, it nonetheless outpaced Ethereum.
This reveals that institutional flows and on-chain dominance are instantly translating into value motion.
Backing this, SOL closed September up 4.06% vs. ETH’s -5.68% dip, marking its first outperformance because the April FUD.
The end result? SOL/ETH closed at 10.6%, signaling capital rotation from ETH into SOL as merchants chase alpha. The 0.05 assist held agency, with two greater lows forming, preserving the breakout construction intact.
Supply: TradingView (SOL/ETH)
Little doubt, a breakout above 0.055 might ship SOL/ETH again to Q2 highs.
Nevertheless, with institutional flows piling into Solana and its dominance outpacing Ethereum throughout key sectors, the setup appears to be like sturdy, preserving SOL’s This autumn outperformance versus its largest L1 rival very a lot in play.
