Solana posts $20B weekly perps volume

Santiment said on May 20 that Solana had moved to the front of crypto trading discussions after weekly perpetuals volume on Solana-based venues topped $20 billion. The market-intelligence firm said Bitcoin was leading custody and ETF-driven demand, while Ethereum was seeing capital rotation. The post was published on X within the last 48 hours and framed the three assets as moving on different catalysts at the same time. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, or IBIT, showed $62.3 billion in net assets as of May 19 on the asset manager’s product page, giving a current reference point for the ETF demand Santiment cited. ### Why did Solana stand out in Santiment’s update? Santiment said on May 20 that Solana recorded more than $20 billion in weekly perpetuals trading volume. The figure points to activity in perpetual futures, a derivatives market where traders can take leveraged long or short positions without a fixed expiry date. Reports published on May 19 and May 21 by market outlets citing on-chain data said Solana-based perpetual decentralized exchanges crossed that $20 billion weekly threshold for the first time. (blackrock.com) Those reports said daily volume reached about $5.78 billion on May 18, with GMTrade accounting for roughly $4.9 billion over 24 hours during the surge. ### What does “perps volume” actually measure here? Perpetuals volume measures how much notional trading passed through perpetual futures markets over a given period. In this case, the number refers to weekly turnover on Solana-linked perpetual trading venues rather than spot buying of SOL tokens alone. May 18 was the session that several reports identified as the peak of the move. FinanceFeeds, MEXC News and TokenPost each said the spike was concentrated in Solana-based perpetual DEX trading, which means the headline reflects derivatives activity and trader positioning more than direct spot accumulation. (financefeeds.com) ### Why did Santiment pair that with Bitcoin and IBIT? BlackRock’s product page said IBIT had $62.315 billion in net assets and held 807,052.44390 bitcoin as of May 19. BlackRock says the trust is designed to give investors bitcoin exposure through an exchange-traded product while simplifying the operational and custody issues of holding bitcoin directly. (financefeeds.com) Santiment’s reference to Bitcoin leading custody flows and ETF demand fits that backdrop. BlackRock’s scale does not by itself prove all Bitcoin demand is ETF-driven, but it does show that IBIT remains one of the largest named vehicles through which investors can gain regulated bitcoin exposure. ### What did Santiment mean by Ethereum seeing capital rotation? (blackrock.com) Santiment said Ethereum was seeing capital rotation, indicating that trading attention and funds were moving between major crypto assets rather than concentrating in one place. The post, as described in the briefing, put Ethereum in contrast with Bitcoin’s ETF and custody narrative and Solana’s derivatives surge. Market reports tied to the same period show traders focusing on Bitcoin ETF flows and Solana derivatives records, while Ethereum was more often discussed in terms of outflows or repositioning. (blackrock.com) That does not establish a single market-wide cause, but it matches Santiment’s description of different demand channels across the three assets. ### Where can readers track the next update? BlackRock updates IBIT holdings, net assets and other fund data on its product page, which showed May 19 figures in the latest available snapshot. Santiment’s original post remains on X, where any follow-up market commentary from the firm would likely appear first. (blackrock.com) (cointelegraph.com)