Solana and Ethereum Suffocate Under Inflation Costs
Crypto data provider Kaiko recently analyzed blockchain earnings and discovered that Solana (SOL) and Ethereum (ETH) posted significant losses in 2025. According to their findings, Solana recorded a net loss of $4.15 billion, while Ethereum lost $1.62 billion.
The analysis compared annual fee revenue against the market value of newly issued tokens distributed to validators or stakers. It found that inflation costs across many Layer 1 networks exceeded revenue by multiples ranging from seven to 25 times.
Solana's network generated approximately $170 million in fees in 2025 but recorded $4.15 billion in losses after accounting for validator issuance. Ethereum collected around $260 million in annual revenue yet still posted $1.62 billion in net losses under the same calculation.