Solana, Ethereum Market Cap Debate: Raoul Pal Weighs in on Financial Depth

Financial analyst Raoul Pal believes that Solana could potentially overtake Ethereum in terms of market capitalization, but he notes that network activity alone may not settle the debate. In a recent interview, Pal pointed out that Ethereum carries around $200,000 in total value locked per active user, while Solana's equivalent figure is near $2,500.

This calculation, which divides DeFi TVL by an active-user measure, does not show how much an average user personally owns or deposits. Pal gives greater weight to lending balances, collateral, and other financial assets than to frequent low-value transactions. He described Ethereum as financially deeper, associating much of Solana's activity with speculation.

DefiLlama figures from October 3 show Ethereum holding substantially more DeFi deposits and stablecoins than Solana. However, both networks hold billions of dollars across these categories. Solana's balances therefore show financial activity beyond token trading.

Pal notes that the TVL per user depends heavily on the measurement, and that using unique addresses involved in defined ledger activity over a specific measurement period is a more accurate method. He also points out that network boundaries can affect comparisons, and that combining Ethereum's layer-two ecosystem with mainnet-only figures would produce a different ratio.