Solana's surge in tracked perpetuals trading is concentrated on a single derivatives venue: GMTrade, which accounts for roughly 77% of reported weekly turnover in DefiLlama's Solana table. Spot trading moved in the opposite direction over the same period, leaving a narrower demand picture than the derivatives headline suggests.

The Numbers Behind the Headline

Perpetual futures are leveraged derivatives contracts with no expiry date, and their turnover records the notional value of each trade rather than net new buying. In its Nov. 10 snapshot, DefiLlama's Solana dashboard reports nearly $9 billion in seven-day perpetuals turnover, an increase of 65.29% from the preceding week. GMTrade, listed by DefiLlama as $GMX Solana, contributed nearly $7 billion of that figure, with a displayed weekly increase of 105%.

The same dashboard's seven-day comparisons show the spot side weakening. Spot decentralized exchange turnover fell 5% to $9.9 billion, and stablecoin market capitalization declined 4.38% to $14.5 billion.

DefiLlama's Pacifica page adds a further nuance to the aggregate: the platform attributes its total value locked (TVL) to Solana but classifies its $2.6 billion in weekly perpetuals turnover as "off-chain," placing that activity outside the Solana table.

Concentrated Turnover and Points-Based Rewards

Dividing GMTrade's reported weekly turnover by the table's total yields an approximately 77% share. The rounded totals and growth rates also imply that GMTrade's weekly increase was roughly as large as the entire table's gain, meaning the aggregate currently moves with a single venue's activity rather than broad-based participation across the table.

GMTrade's trading documentation allows $SOL exposure backed by either wrapped $SOL or $USDC collateral, meaning a dollar of leveraged turnover cannot simply be counted as a dollar of new $SOL buying. Because turnover tallies every executed trade, opening a position and closing it later registers volume on both legs.

The venue's GT documentation describes points earned through trading, liquidity provision and referrals, with conditional treasury buybacks offering a route to $USDC. Under the announced Season 2 terms, a referrer's sellable quota is tied to GT earned through referred traders' trading, making points different from an unrestricted cash rebate. Fixed-season points structures of this kind are a common mechanism across decentralized venues for tying rewards to measured activity.

The published fee documentation lists basic charges for opening or closing crypto positions of 0.02% or 0.024%, depending on whether a trade improves the balance of longs and shorts. The Season 2 announcement also described a fee-structure change. The incentives, however, do not show how much of the weekly increase they caused, or how much trading would persist without them.

GMTrade's connection to $GMX extends beyond its DefiLlama label. GM Labs said in a Sept. 16 governance post that $GMX Solana had been integrated into $GMX, while GT points remain distinct from the $GMX token. In a Nov. 3 forum reply, contributor Jonezee said Solana-side buybacks were adding $GMX to the staking rewards pool.

Open Interest Is the Next Test

The Nov. 10 perps table shows nearly $174.9 million in GMTrade open interest, against $235.1 million for the table overall. Open interest measures outstanding positions, while turnover measures the notional value traded during a period. Read together, the two figures can indicate whether new positions are being held or rapidly opened and closed within the same window.

More broadly, stablecoin market capitalization reflects the price-valued circulating balance, and falling spot turnover likewise measures activity rather than demand.

The next test is whether GMTrade sustains its turnover across subsequent weeks, with open interest observed over matching periods. That would help distinguish repeat activity from a single weekly jump while the broader spot market remains quieter.