The Summer Showdown Between Cardano and Solana: Innovations and Conflicts Behind the $206 Million Weekly Trading Volume in the NFT Market

In the past week, the total sales volume of the NFT market reached $206.8 million, a weekly rise of 35%. The Ethereum chain led with $142 million (+47%), while the Solana chain followed closely with a growth rate of 57%, becoming one of the most active public chain competitors this summer. Meanwhile, Cardano, driven by DeFi and governance upgrades, propelled the ADA token to a rise of over 53% in July, becoming another focal point in the market.

##Solana: A NFT Engine with Controversy and Rise

1. Data Explosion and Ecological Contradictions

• As of July 28, the total sales of NFTs on the Solana chain have exceeded $6.4 billion, with a cumulative transaction volume of over 65.95 million and the number of buyers reaching 6.42 million.
• However, co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko publicly criticized NFTs and Memecoins as "digital slop," believing they lack intrinsic value. This statement triggered a strong backlash from the community, particularly ironic is that Memecoins contributed 62% of DApp revenue on Solana, accumulating 1.6 billion dollars in revenue in the first half of the year.

2. The Rise of New Forces: SLERF's NFT Experiment

• Recently, the focus Memecoin project SLERF announced the launch of an NFT series to raise refund funds. Its donation address has received over 4,004 SOL (approximately $750,000), attempting to rebuild trust through artist collaborations and high-quality content.

##Cardano: Governance Upgrades and Airdrop Strategies Drive Ecosystem

1. Technical upgrades drive the rise of ADA

• The rise of Cardano in July is attributed to three major core advancements:
  • Chang Hard Fork (Launching in Q3): Implement on-chain governance, allowing ADA holders to vote on network upgrades;
  • Hydra Layer 2 Scaling Solution: Increases transaction speed and reduces Gas costs;
  • TVL突破 $412 million, a 20% rise since the beginning of the year, the DeFi ecosystem continues to expand.
• Analyst Paul Barron predicts that if the rise continues, ADA may hit $1.50 in August and could reach $3 by the end of the year.

2. Airdrop plan to capture cross-chain users

• The privacy sidechain Midnight announced an airdrop of governance token NIGHT and privacy token DUST to 37 million users across 8 blockchains, excluding institutional shares, focusing on retail coverage, in preparation for the mainnet launch at the end of 2025.

##Comparison of Dual-Chain Technology Routes: Performance VS Governance

• Solana: Low gas fees and high throughput have become a breeding ground for memecoins and NFT high-frequency trading, but excessive reliance on speculative assets raises sustainability concerns;
• Cardano: Known for its phased academic development, it transfers ecological control to the community through on-chain governance, attracting long-term institutional holdings.

##Market Controversy: The Debate on the Nature of Value The debate between Solana founder Yakovenko and Base chain creator Jesse Pollak reflects the division in the industry:

• Opponent (Yakovenko): NFTs are like mobile game lottery mechanisms, relying on speculation rather than real value;
• Pollak: NFTs carry cultural and artistic attributes, analogous to collecting physical paintings.

Despite the ongoing debate, Blue Chip NFT trading on Solana continues to rise:

• CryptoPunks weekly sales reached 21.53 million USD, capturing the highest single transaction in the market (906,000 USD);
• Milady Maker rose 118%, Moonbirds rose 61%.

New Ecological Forces: DeFi Innovative Projects Entering the Market

The emerging project Mutuum Finance (MUTM) raised over $13.7 million during its presale stage, attracting 14,500 investors. Its "dual lending model" (P2P and P2C) combines Cardano's compliance framework with Solana's low-cost advantages, heralding the trend of integration for the next generation of Decentralized Finance infrastructure.

##Conclusion: The Divide Between Technology and Culture In the summer of 2025, Solana, driven by the raw vitality of Meme culture, stands in stark contrast to Cardano, which is built on a robust system through governance upgrades, in the NFT and DeFi battleground. While Solana reaps the benefits of growth amid controversy, Cardano is attempting to redefine the rules of the next cycle through airdrops and governance reconstruction. The outcome of the competition between the two may determine the path for blockchain applications from "digital goods" to "value tools."