Bitquery's study examined the Solana decentralized exchange (DEX) pools it indexed between August 24 and September 22 and found that 58.4% of the $201.4 billion in trading volume it could price met the firm's criteria for non-economic activity — roughly $117.7 billion. The findings are detailed in Bitquery's investigation into Solana trading activity.

Bitquery is an onchain-data provider, not an independent market regulator, so its classification should be read as a documented analytical finding rather than a final legal determination.

The $117.7 Billion Claim Needs an Exact Reading

The figure is striking, but its boundaries matter as much as its size. Bitquery reviewed trades in the Solana DEX pools it indexed and could price during the 30-day window. Onchain patterns can surface unusual behavior; on their own, they cannot establish an individual trader's motive.

The test flagged roughly $117.7 billion of the $201.4 billion sample. Bitquery said about 95% of the flagged activity involved buying and selling the same token in the same pool within a single transaction. The report also identified concentrated clusters of similar wallets and unusually large activity in tokens named after public companies and artificial-intelligence products.

The finding challenges a widely used volume metric. Still, the sample cannot produce a network-wide percentage for all Solana trading, nor can it measure the scale of genuine activity elsewhere on the network.

How a Real Swap Can Become a Weak Demand Signal

DEX volume counts the dollar value passing through a swap. If linked wallets repeatedly buy and sell the same token through the same pool — often reversing the exposure within the same transaction or shortly afterwards — every swap adds to reported volume even when the group has taken little lasting market risk.

A blockchain proves that the swaps happened. Wallet independence, trade intent, and any intention to hold the asset remain separate questions.

Automation itself is not the problem. Market makers and arbitrage systems can legitimately make many rapid trades, and Solana's low fees make that activity inexpensive. The question raised by Bitquery is narrower: whether repeated, concentrated buy-and-sell patterns should be counted as the same kind of market activity as independent investors taking directional positions.

Gross Volume Is Only One Reading of a DEX

DefiLlama defines DEX volume as the value of trades processed by an exchange. That is a useful measure of turnover, but it is not a count of unique traders, net capital entering a protocol, or the liquidity available to a seller at a reasonable price.

Readers should not simply swap one headline number for another. The more useful approach is to track several signals that describe different parts of a market.

None of those readings is immune to manipulation. Together, however, they are harder to mistake for simple user demand than a large notional-volume figure on its own.

Why This Is Not a Verdict on Solana's Entire DeFi Market

Bitquery's dataset is valuable precisely because it is specific. It provides named patterns, wallet clusters, and a defined sample that other researchers can challenge or reproduce. Its conclusion should not be stretched beyond that evidence.

This is why daily DEX rankings need context. Coindoo recently examined how Solana regained the DEX-volume lead as trading cooled. Bitquery's study adds a different question: how much of a volume lead reflects independent market activity?

The useful distinction is between a metric and a verdict. Volume tells readers how much value passed through smart contracts. By itself, it cannot tell them whether that turnover came from independent traders, how deep the market was, or whether the activity created lasting value for an application.

The Better Question After Any Volume Record

Public transaction data makes this kind of scrutiny possible. Whether other analysts reproduce or challenge Bitquery's classifications using the same window and criteria is the natural next test for the finding. The next time a chain or DEX announces a volume record, readers should ask who traded, how concentrated the activity was, and whether the turnover left behind deeper liquidity — or only a bigger dashboard number.

This article is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Onchain analytics depend on the datasets, wallet labels, and classification methods used by each provider.