Solana, Sui, Aptos: Potential Ethereum Challengers – 2024 Performance Analysis

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Introduction

Ethereum remains the second most popular blockchain platform after Bitcoin, widely recognized for its smart contract capabilities and robust support for decentralized applications (dApps). While Bitcoin laid the foundation for blockchain technology, Ethereum expanded its utility by becoming the driving force behind innovations in decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

One of Ethereum’s greatest strengths is its ability to evolve continuously, adapting to the needs of developers and users alike. Its flexible architecture set the standard for modern blockchains and powered the explosive growth of DeFi during 2020–2021, cementing its leadership in the space.

However, Ethereum faces persistent challenges—most notably scalability. During peak network usage, high gas fees and congestion significantly degrade user experience. To address these issues, Ethereum has rolled out major upgrades such as The Merge, which transitioned the network to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, with future plans to implement sharding for enhanced throughput. These limitations have opened the door for emerging Layer 1 blockchains like Solana, Sui, and Aptos—often dubbed “Ethereum killers”—to position themselves as alternatives offering faster transactions, lower fees, and superior scalability.

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Ethereum’s Position in 2024

Despite perceptions of underperformance this year—driven by investor focus on Bitcoin’s store-of-value narrative, reduced fee revenue post-Dencun upgrade, and rising competition from chains like Solana—Ethereum maintains its status as the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.

The Dencun Upgrade

A pivotal moment for Ethereum in 2024 was the Dencun upgrade, which introduced Proto-Danksharding (EIP-4844). This innovation reduces data availability costs for Layer 2 (L2) networks, significantly lowering transaction fees and accelerating settlement speeds.

As a result, more activity is shifting to L2 platforms such as Base, Arbitrum, and Blast. According to CryptoFees.info, Ethereum’s daily fee revenue now ranges between $1 million and $5 million—down sharply from highs exceeding $30 million during 2021–2022.

Growth of the Layer 2 Ecosystem

Ethereum’s Layer 2 ecosystem has seen explosive adoption. Rollup solutions like Arbitrum and Optimism inherit Ethereum’s security while dramatically improving efficiency and cost-effectiveness for dApps. This hybrid model allows Ethereum to scale without compromising decentralization or security.

Dominance in DeFi and dApps

Ethereum continues to lead in both active users and total value locked (TVL). As of late 2024, Ethereum’s TVL surpassed $68 billion—far exceeding competitors like Solana and Tron. This dominance reflects deep liquidity, mature protocols, and strong developer engagement across lending, trading, and yield-generating platforms.

The Impact of Ethereum ETFs

The launch of spot Ethereum ETFs in mid-2024 marked a milestone for institutional acceptance. While not yet matching Bitcoin ETF inflows, these funds have elevated Ethereum’s profile in traditional finance, reinforcing its legitimacy beyond speculative crypto circles.

Solana, Sui, Aptos: Can They Challenge Ethereum?

The term “Ethereum killer” emerged around 2016–2017 when alternative blockchains like Cardano began positioning themselves as scalable successors. EOS later amplified this narrative with a record-breaking $4.1 billion ICO. Today, projects like Solana, Sui, Aptos, Avalanche, and BNB Smart Chain continue to vie for this title by addressing Ethereum’s pain points—speed, cost, and scalability—through novel consensus mechanisms and architectural designs.

Solana: The Most Formidable Competitor

Solana combines Proof-of-History (PoH) with Proof-of-Stake (PoS) to achieve exceptional throughput and low fees. Under optimal conditions, it can process over 200,000 transactions per second (TPS), with ambitions to reach 1 million TPS via the upcoming Firedancer upgrade.

After struggling with frequent outages and reputational damage from the 2022 FTX collapse, Solana rebounded strongly in late 2023 and throughout 2024. A key catalyst was the meme coin boom—platforms like Pump.fun thrived on Solana due to low fees and fast execution, generating over $240 million in cumulative revenue.

By December 2024, Solana had more than 6 million daily active addresses—surpassing Ethereum’s 390,000—making it one of the most active chains by user engagement.

Strategic partnerships also boosted credibility. Collaborations with VISA on stablecoin settlements and Google Cloud on GameShift (a Web2-to-Web3 game development API) highlight Solana’s institutional appeal.

Notably, several high-profile projects originally built on Ethereum—including Render and Arkham—are now integrating or migrating entirely to Solana.

In price performance, Solana surged over 330% in 2024 (reaching ~$224), outpacing Ethereum’s 50% gain (~$3,595). However, challenges remain: network congestion during peak activity has led to high failure rates—up to 75% during meme coin frenzies—and concerns persist about validator centralization.

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Sui: A Rising Contender in Gaming and Social dApps

Built on delegated proof-of-stake (DPoS) and powered by the Move programming language, Sui delivers up to 297,000 TPS. Since its 2023 mainnet launch, it has rapidly climbed the ranks—ranking second in total transactions behind only Solana by late 2024.

Sui focuses on Web3 gaming and social applications. Its partnership with Playtron led to the release of SuiPlay0x1, a handheld gaming device capable of running blockchain-integrated PC games—a bold step toward mainstream adoption.

In DeFi, Sui attracted over $2 billion in cross-chain inflows from Ethereum over the past year—the highest among emerging L1s. Its TVL approached $2 billion, led by protocols like Suilend and NAVI. However, over half of TVL is concentrated in just two platforms, indicating room for ecosystem diversification.

A two-hour network outage in November 2024—caused by a bug in transaction scheduling—raised questions about reliability as user demand grows.

Aptos: High Performance with Institutional Backing

Aptos is a non-EVM Layer 1 blockchain using the AptosBFT consensus engine and Move language (originally developed for Meta’s Diem project). It achieves over 160,000 TPS while prioritizing security—even tolerating up to one-third malicious validators.

In 2024, Aptos set a record with 326 million daily transactions driven by its gaming app Tapos—exceeding Ethereum’s daily volume at times.

Its TVL exceeded $1 billion across 48 DeFi protocols. Yet more than 75% of this value sits in the top five protocols—mostly liquid staking platforms—highlighting concentration risks.

Product innovation includes the Aptos Card, enabling direct payments from cold wallets. Additionally, BlackRock launched BUIDL—a tokenized U.S. Treasury fund—on Aptos, signaling growing institutional interest.

Despite progress, broader adoption hinges on expanding beyond lending/staking use cases and stress-testing the Move language under real-world loads.

Nakamoto Coefficient: Measuring Decentralization

The Nakamoto Coefficient measures how decentralized a blockchain is by identifying how many entities would need to collude to compromise the network. Higher values indicate better decentralization:

While newer chains show stronger validator distribution, Ethereum’s low score raises concerns despite its robust security model—largely due to staking centralization via services like Lido and Coinbase.

Will Ethereum Be Replaced?

Ethereum’s first-mover advantage is undeniable. With over 4,000 active developers—the largest dApp ecosystem in crypto—it fuels a powerful flywheel:

Even amid rising competition, Ethereum still holds over 60% of total value locked across all blockchains. Its Layer 2 strategy enables scaling without sacrificing core principles. Upcoming upgrades like Pectra (planned for 2025) will introduce account abstraction and improved smart contract functionality—enhancing usability for mainstream audiences.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Why are Solana, Sui, and Aptos called 'Ethereum killers'?
A: These blockchains aim to solve Ethereum’s scalability issues with faster speeds and lower fees. The term reflects their ambition to surpass Ethereum in performance and adoption—not necessarily replace it entirely.

Q: Is Ethereum losing relevance due to Layer 2s?
A: No. Layer 2s strengthen Ethereum by handling scale off-chain while relying on Ethereum’s security. This hybrid approach enhances usability without fragmenting trust.

Q: Which chain has the best DeFi ecosystem?
A: Ethereum leads in depth, diversity, and TVL. However, Solana and Sui are catching up quickly in niche areas like meme coins and gaming finance.

Q: Are high TPS blockchains less secure?
A: Often yes—many achieve speed through trade-offs like higher centralization or unproven architectures. Security audits and real-world resilience remain critical factors.

Q: Can new blockchains overtake Ethereum?
A: Full-scale replacement is unlikely soon. But they can dominate specific verticals—like gaming or payments—and coexist as complementary ecosystems.

Q: What role does developer activity play?
A: It’s crucial. Ethereum’s vast developer base ensures continuous innovation. Emerging chains must grow their communities to achieve long-term sustainability.

Conclusion

Displacing Ethereum as the dominant smart contract platform is no small feat. While Solana, Sui, and Aptos offer compelling improvements in speed and cost-efficiency, they often do so at the expense of decentralization or stability. Their strengths lie in specialized domains—gaming, social apps, fast payments—rather than broad ecosystem maturity.

Rather than outright challengers, these blockchains are better viewed as complementary forces, expanding blockchain utility into new frontiers. Meanwhile, Ethereum evolves through upgrades like Dencun and Pectra to maintain relevance. The future may not be about one chain winning—but a multi-chain ecosystem where each serves distinct needs within the broader Web3 landscape.