SOL has been holding steady in the $71 to $74 range in late June, a small but meaningful show of resilience for a token whose underlying network is flashing some concerning signals. The token’s stability isn’t coming from the usual suspects. Instead, it’s being buoyed by a sector that barely existed on Solana a year ago: tokenized stock trading.
Solana’s traditional DeFi metrics are in retreat. Its total value locked has slid to roughly $4.8 billion, a far cry from previous peaks above $12 billion. DEX volumes dropped approximately 31% quarter-over-quarter in the first quarter of 2026.
Tokenized stocks are doing the heavy lifting
Solana has quietly become the dominant chain for tokenized equities, and “dominant” might be an understatement. On June 20, the network captured roughly 99% of all tokenized stock DEX trades. That’s not a typo.
Daily trading volumes for tokenized stocks on Solana have topped $200 million. Weekly volumes recently crossed the $1 billion mark.
Backed Finance has been a key driver, issuing 61 tokenized equity assets on the Solana network. Ondo Global Markets has also entered the picture, bringing tokenized US stocks and ETFs to the chain.
The DeFi decline in context
The TVL drop from above $12 billion to around $4.8 billion is hard to ignore. That’s a decline of more than 60% from peak levels. A 31% quarter-over-quarter decline in DEX volumes during Q1 2026 adds to the picture.
What makes the current situation unusual is the divergence. Normally, falling TVL and shrinking DEX volumes would translate directly into token price weakness. SOL’s ability to hold the $71 to $74 range despite these headwinds suggests that traders are pricing in the tokenized equities story as a legitimate growth vector.
What this means for investors
Weekly tokenized stock volumes just hit $1 billion on Solana. Tokenized equities are still a fraction of overall onchain activity, but they’re growing while traditional DeFi contracts.
Backed Finance’s 61 issued assets and Ondo Global Markets’ expansion onto Solana suggest institutional-grade players are betting on this trend accelerating. They’re building infrastructure for bringing traditional financial assets onchain, and they’re choosing Solana as their home base.
Investors watching SOL should track two metrics above all else: the growth rate of tokenized equity volumes on Solana, and whether TVL stabilizes around the $4.8 billion mark or continues declining.