After carefully studying Solana's economic model, I discovered three key issues:
First, the issuance mechanism of Solana tokens is completely out of control. Currently, 2.2 million SOL are fixedly issued every month, which amounts to printing $350 million out of thin air at the current price. This increase has no upper limit and continuously dilutes the rights of existing token holders like a perpetual motion machine.
Second, the entire network is actually in a state of severe blood loss. Although there are no cash losses on the books, the rewards paid to validators through token issuance are several times higher than the transaction fees users actually pay. This "on-chain fiscal deficit" amounts to $300 million a month, essentially filling an operational black hole with newly minted tokens.
Third, the vast majority of the newly issued tokens flow directly into the market. Over 80% of the new coins are returned to users as staking rewards, creating a de facto inflation cycle. Although validator nodes and projects like Jupiter receive a small share, the entire system relies entirely on token issuance to maintain operations, similar to a Ponzi structure where new debt is used to pay off old debt.
This model must meet two fragile conditions to sustain itself: either transaction volume must continue to grow explosively to cover inflation costs, or new funds must continuously flow in to take over the newly issued tokens. Once market enthusiasm wanes or transaction fee income cannot match the issuance speed, the entire network will fall into a death spiral—token sell pressure surges, leading to price collapse, which in turn triggers a mass exit of stakers and a stability crisis for nodes.
The so-called prosperity of the Solana ecosystem is essentially a carefully designed financial game. All community promotions and ecological construction rhetoric ultimately serve to maintain the continuation of this hot potato game. This economic model, which relies on unlimited money printing, is doomed to be an unsustainable Ponzi scheme.
