Global attention in blockchain ecosystems shifted in 2025, as Solana and Base kept their lead while rivals like Ethereum, Sui and BNB Chain rapidly gained ground.
Solana remains the most popular chain but loses momentum
The Solana ecosystem secured its second straight year as the most popular among all blockchain ecosystems, drawing 26.79% of global interest in chain-specific crypto narratives in 2025. However, its mindshare dropped sharply by 12.0 percentage points from the 38.79% it commanded in 2024, signaling a notable shift in investor focus.
This decline highlights the layer 1 network’s challenges in expanding beyond its tight association with meme coin trading, even as its onchain activity remains high. Moreover, Solana’s price has largely stayed rangebound despite growing institutional adoption, including the launch of US-based ETFs that brought more mainstream visibility but did not fully translate into narrative dominance.
As a direct consequence, the Solana ecosystem fell out of the top five most popular crypto narratives overall in 2025. It was overtaken in that broader thematic ranking by the AI agents and Made in USA narratives, which captured more of the storytelling momentum that once powered Solana’s comeback story.
Whether Solana can regain narrative strength now depends on fresh catalysts that go beyond speculative trading. That said, the chain still sits well ahead of every other ecosystem on a pure mindshare basis, underscoring how entrenched its position remains after two years at the top.
Base and Ethereum consolidate positions in the top three
The second most popular blockchain ecosystem in 2025 was Coinbase‘s Base, which accounted for 13.94% of global investor interest in chain-specific narratives. However, Base also saw its mindshare slip by 2.9 percentage points from 16.81% in 2024, even as its underlying fundamentals appeared to strengthen.
Several developments underpinned Base’s growth as an onchain platform, including the rebranding of Coinbase Wallet into the Base app. Moreover, the network benefited from Shopify‘s integration for USDC payments and the x402 facilitation, moves that supported a broader push toward consumer-facing crypto rails even as headline interest cooled.
The Ethereum ecosystem once again ranked third among the most popular blockchain ecosystems in 2025, with 13.43% of global mindshare in chain-specific narratives. That represented an increase of 2.7 percentage points year-on-year, up from 10.76% in 2024, as Ethereum slightly closed the gap with Base.
Investors remain critical of ETH price performance and continue to debate Ethereum’s role amid intensifying competition from newer chains. Nevertheless, the network’s deep liquidity, established developer base and dominance in DeFi and NFTs helped sustain this rebound in attention, even as narrative excitement shifted toward faster or cheaper alternatives.
Sui and BNB Chain post the strongest mindshare gains
Sui and BNB Chain were the biggest winners in 2025 in terms of mindshare growth, climbing into the fourth and fifth spots among all blockchain ecosystems. Their combined gains contrasted sharply with the slide in older competitors such as TON, Cosmos, Tron and Aptos.
The Sui ecosystem delivered the single largest increase in investor attention, with mindshare rising by 6.9 percentage points year-on-year to reach 11.77% in 2025. This surge brings Sui just behind Ethereum in the ecosystem ranking and significantly ahead of many other newer layer 1s that had previously competed for similar attention in 2024.
By comparison, the TON ecosystem saw its mindshare fall by 5.0 percentage points year-on-year and slipped down the rankings. That said, Sui’s performance suggests it has cemented itself as one of the more serious contenders in chain-specific narratives, rather than a short-lived beneficiary of temporary hype.
Meanwhile, Binance‘s BNB Chain ecosystem posted a 4.9 percentage point year-on-year increase to capture 9.05% of global mindshare in 2025. Its rise was underpinned by the launch of Binance Alpha in May, which has since placed BNB Chain in the lead for onchain trading volumes and attracted more active traders to its infrastructure.
The BNB Chain ecosystem also enjoys support from the renewed involvement of CZ, founder of Binance, as well as resilient BNB price action over the period studied. Moreover, this strengthening position underscores how exchange-linked networks can still carve out large audiences despite heightened regulatory scrutiny on centralized platforms.
XRP Ledger, Bittensor and Hyperliquid headline new entrants
Several new blockchain ecosystems entered the top tier of investor attention in 2025, with the XRP Ledger, Bittensor and Hyperliquid ecosystems standing out as the most notable movers. This fresh cohort has reshaped the mid-section of the rankings, adding new narratives beyond traditional layer 1 and layer 2 competitors.
The XRP Ledger ecosystem debuted at sixth place with a substantial 4.68% mindshare, immediately securing a position near some of the longest-standing chains. In parallel, the AI-focused Bittensor ecosystem captured 1.91% of global attention, enough to earn ninth place and demonstrate the pull of artificial intelligence within crypto market narratives.
Other new entrants that managed to break into the top 20 include the Berachain ecosystem and the Abstract ecosystem. However, the standout performer among newer chains was Hyperliquid, whose ecosystem climbed dramatically from near-zero visibility to a spot inside the top ten.
The Hyperliquid ecosystem saw its mindshare jump from just 0.01% when it was first added in 2024 to 1.57% in 2025, lifting its rank by an impressive 44 positions. Aside from driving renewed excitement around perpetual futures trading on DEXs, Hyperliquid also delivered a key milestone in the stablecoin segment with the launch of USDH.
Given its strong community and robust DEX infrastructure, observers are now watching to see how far the Hyperliquid ecosystem can diversify beyond its core trading product. That said, its rapid rise illustrates how quickly specialized platforms can gain share when they align tightly with dominant market use cases.
Shifting leaders and ecosystems displaced from the top 20
Despite the influx of new names, a core group of 12 blockchain ecosystems managed to remain in the top 20 for two consecutive years. These incumbents include Solana, Base, Ethereum, Sui, BNB Chain, TON, Avalanche, Bitcoin, Cardano, Polygon, Arbitrum and several others, underscoring how durable narrative leadership can be once established.
However, other well-known ecosystems lost enough mindshare to be displaced from the top 20 in 2025. Aptos, Tron, Cosmos and Sei were among the most notable fallers, as investors rotated into ecosystems showing stronger growth, clearer narratives or more visible product launches.
Beyond the current leaders, investors are also tracking rising chains that could become more relevant in 2026. In particular, the Monad ecosystem, with 0.23% mindshare, and the Plasma ecosystem, with 0.16%, have been flagged as early-stage contenders that may play a bigger role among chain-specific narratives next year.
Top blockchain ecosystem rankings for 2025 and 2024
According to CoinGecko’s analysis, there were 62 blockchain ecosystems with a non-zero share of mindshare in 2025. The top 20 accounted for a dominant 95.60% of global interest in chain-specific narratives during that period, showing how attention remains highly concentrated at the top of the market.
The 2025 top 20 were ranked as follows: Solana — 26.79%; Base — 13.94%; Ethereum — 13.43%; Sui — 11.77%; BNB Chain — 9.05%; XRP Ledger — 4.68%; Sonic — 2.29%; Cardano — 1.92%; Bittensor — 1.91%; Hyperliquid — 1.57%; TON — 1.23%; Avalanche — 1.17%; Bitcoin — 1.08%; Berachain — 0.81%; Hedera — 0.79%; Polygon — 0.78%; Abstract — 0.66%; Arbitrum — 0.60%; Kaspa — 0.58%; Linea — 0.56%; others — 4.40%.
By comparison, there were 67 ecosystems with non-zero mindshare in 2024, and the top 20 combined for 96.95% of global investor interest. The ranking that year was: Solana — 38.79%; Base — 16.81%; Ethereum — 10.76%; TON — 6.20%; Sui — 4.83%; BNB Chain — 4.12%; Cosmos — 2.47%; Avalanche — 2.11%; Arbitrum — 1.77%; Polygon — 1.36%; Bitcoin — 1.07%; Tron — 1.02%; Cardano — 1.01%; zkSync — 0.95%; Sei — 0.82%; Aptos — 0.76%; Blast — 0.75%; Polkadot — 0.58%; Fantom — 0.46%; Metis — 0.31%; others — 3.05%.
These year-on-year shifts illustrate how concentrated but dynamic the landscape of leading blockchain ecosystems remains. While Solana and Base continue to dominate headline mindshare, rapid climbers such as Sui, BNB Chain, XRP Ledger and Hyperliquid highlight that new narratives can still break through and materially reshape the rankings.
Methodology behind the ecosystem mindshare data
The ranking of the most popular blockchain ecosystems is based on a study of CoinGecko‘s non-botted global web traffic. The data covers two distinct periods: from January 1 to November 11, 2024, and from January 1 to December 14, 2025, capturing how investor interest evolved across two market cycles.
Only ecosystems with actively listed coins and a non-zero share of traffic were included in the assessment, ensuring that dormant or inactive projects did not skew the results. Moreover, by focusing on traffic linked to chain-specific pages, the methodology aims to isolate attention on ecosystem narratives rather than broader market movements or macro news.
In summary, the 2025 data confirms that Solana and Base remain the most visible blockchain ecosystems, but the accelerating rise of Sui, BNB Chain, XRP Ledger, Bittensor and Hyperliquid shows how quickly competitive dynamics can change as new products, narratives and user bases emerge.
Source: https://en.cryptonomist.ch/2025/12/15/blockchain-ecosystems-2025-leaders/
