Here’s a roundup of useful Solana news and updates as of early July 2025:

🔥 1. Solana ETF Discussions Heating Up

Following the recent approval of Ethereum ETFs, rumors are swirling around a potential Solana ETF.

Bloomberg analysts suggest that Solana could be next in line if regulatory clarity improves.

This has sparked increased institutional interest in SOL and Solana-based tokens.

⚡ 2. Solana Surges in Developer Activity

Solana has surpassed 2000 monthly active developers, according to recent Electric Capital data.

It’s now the #2 blockchain for developer activity, just behind Ethereum.

Growth is fueled by Firedancer, Solana Mobile, and compressed NFTs.

📱 3. Solana Mobile Expands

After the success of the Saga phone, Solana Mobile is launching a second device ("Saga 2") with better specs and lower price.

Built-in support for crypto wallets and dApps continues to push Web3-native mobile UX.

🌐 4. Solana DeFi Ecosystem Rebounds

TVL (Total Value Locked) on Solana is back over $6 billion, up from under $2B in 2023.

Top protocols include:

Jupiter (DEX aggregator)

Marinade (liquid staking)

Drift (perpetuals)

MarginFi (lending/borrowing)

Solana DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure) protocols like Helium and Render also gaining traction.

🛠️ 5. Firedancer Testnet Expands

Jump Crypto’s Firedancer validator client is now live on testnet, expected on mainnet later in 2025.

Goal: 1 million TPS, increased resilience, and reduced reliance on Solana Labs' validator client.

Could be a game-changer for scalability and uptime.

💰 6. SOL Price & On-Chain Metrics

SOL is trading around $185–$200, up ~350% year-over-year.

Daily on-chain transaction count is consistently high due to:

meme coin launches

NFT trading

DePIN data updates

Solana Pay integrations

🎨 7. Solana NFTs See a Resurgence

Collections like Mad Lads, Bozo Collective, and SMB Gen3 are hot again.

The Solana NFT standard (PNFTs) is now widely adopted, offering better royalties enforcement and compression.