Stablecoin Adoption Threatens Native Token Demand on Ethereum and Solana
Ethereum and Solana's native tokens are facing potential risks as users increasingly route around them to make transactions. Stablecoin users are seeing applications that bypass $ETH, $SOL, and other non-stablecoin tokens. This trend is driven by the scale of stablecoin adoption, with Visa's Onchain Analytics dashboard showing about $1.3 trillion in adjusted stablecoin volume over 30 days.
The debate around native-token demand turns on who funds execution, manages fee balances, and absorbs volatility when user-facing requirements disappear. Stablecoins are used to settle transactions without displaying a native-token balance, but the network still collects fees in the asset it accepts.
Solana's fee sponsorship allows applications to aggregate the requirement for each active user to have a native-token balance, replenishing managed balances and recovering costs through token, fiat, or service billing. This architecture can shift operational exposure toward fewer payers as stablecoin adoption grows, but also requires sponsors to manage fee funding, pricing, and abuse controls.