Must-Know Solana Projects to Track in 2024: A Comprehensive Ecosystem Guide

Solana has become the go-to choice for developers and crypto enthusiasts seeking a high-performance blockchain alternative. The reason is straightforward: it processes transactions at breakneck speed while keeping costs minimal. Its architecture relies on Proof of History (PoH) combined with Proof of Stake (PoS), enabling thousands of transactions per second—a capability that sets it apart in the crowded blockchain landscape.

The Solana Boom: What Happened in 2023

Last year marked a turning point for the ecosystem. Driven by viral memecoins like Bonk, the introduction of inscription standards similar to Bitcoin’s approach, and aggressive platform partnerships, Solana saw explosive growth. Key milestones included:

• DeFi TVL surge: Liquidity pools grew by over 750% from January through December 2023
• Token performance: SOL rallied 658% year-over-year, though recent data shows a -37.16% adjustment from peak levels
• Hardware innovation: Solana Mobile launched its Saga device alongside the Helium Network migration
• Enterprise adoption: Major brands like Mastercard, Visa, and Shopify integrated Solana Pay for faster transactions
• Cloud infrastructure: Both Google Cloud and AWS began supporting Solana validators
• Community events: The Breakpoint conference and Hacker House Tour became pillars of ecosystem building

The Best Solana Projects Across Key Categories

Financial Infrastructure: Where the Real Action Happens

Liquid Staking Leader: Marinade Finance (MNDE)

Marinade Finance operates as Solana’s dominant liquid staking protocol. Users deposit SOL and receive mSOL—a liquid token that continues earning staking rewards. This solves a critical problem: traditional staking locks your capital, but Marinade lets you keep your assets productive. Current metrics show over $1 billion in TVL, 107,000+ active users, and an 8.45% APY. The latest MNDE price stands at $0.04.

Beyond Marinade, other DeFi platforms deserve attention:

• Jito: A high-speed AMM that exploded in popularity after airdropping 100 million JTO tokens to SOL stakers. Its optimized architecture reduces slippage and execution times significantly.
• Orca: Built for accessibility, this DEX features the Fair Price Indicator and Whirlpools—features that improve both trading efficiency and liquidity provider returns.
• Raydium: Functions as both an AMM and yield farming hub, integrating seamlessly with Serum’s order books for lightning-fast trades.

Trading Aggregator: Jupiter (JUP)

Jupiter transformed Solana trading by combining multiple DEXs into one interface. It offers limit orders, dollar-cost averaging, and perpetual futures—all at speeds and costs traditional exchanges can’t match. The platform’s JUP token currently trades at $0.20. Jupiter’s clever airdrop strategy, including the $WEN campaign, drove trading volume above Uniswap’s in late January 2024—a watershed moment for the ecosystem.

Asset Bridges and Data Infrastructure

Cross-Chain Bridge: Wormhole

Wormhole connects Solana to Ethereum, BNB Chain, Cosmos, and other networks. It handles cryptocurrency and NFT transfers securely, recently expanded to Base (Ethereum Layer 2), and introduced automatic relayers for simplified dApp deployment.

Real-Time Price Oracle: Pyth Network (PYTH)

Pyth serves as the nervous system for DeFi applications on Solana. Its decentralized network of data providers delivers high-fidelity price feeds with minimal latency. Trading at $0.06, Pyth expanded its data coverage substantially throughout 2023 and conducted a community airdrop to boost adoption.

Asset Ownership and Creativity

NFT Marketplace Leader: Magic Eden

Magic Eden dominates Solana’s NFT space by offering extensive collections, zero-friction user experience, and minimal fees. The platform serves everyone from collectors to artists, capitalizing on Solana’s low transaction costs.

Alternatives worth exploring:

• Solanart: Features curated, high-quality NFT projects with a streamlined interface
• Honeyland: Artist-centric marketplace supporting emerging creators
• SolSea: Emphasizes creator rights with embedded licenses and unlockable content features

Memecoin Phenomenon: Bonk (BONK)

Bonk emerged as Solana’s defining memecoin through its community-first distribution. Initially airdropped to NFT and DeFi participants, it later gained exchange listings and sparked a price rally. The partnership with Solana Saga phone generated massive visibility. Current price: around $0.00 (fractions of a cent).

Inscription Standard: SOLS (SPL-20)

Taking inspiration from Bitcoin’s BRC-20, Solana introduced SPL-20 inscriptions—digital assets stored directly on-chain. This enables NFT-like collectibles (Lamp, Pepe, URAN) with lower overhead and improved scalability compared to traditional token standards.

Real-World Applications

Move-to-Earn Gaming: STEPN (GMT)

STEPN proved crypto could incentivize real-world activity. Users earn GMT tokens by walking, jogging, or running. It bridged the gap between fitness apps and blockchain rewards, attracting health-conscious crypto users. The ecosystem now includes:

• Star Atlas: A metaverse-style game with deep NFT-based economics
• Walken: Another step-counter app rewarding physical movement
• Defi Land: Gamified yield farming presented through a farm interface

Physical Infrastructure: Helium (HNT)

Helium migrated to Solana in April 2023 to become the world’s largest decentralized wireless network. The project powers IoT devices and mobile networks across real logistics operations. HNT trades at $1.50 and represents the DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network) category.

Community and Social Platforms

Decentralized Social: Grape Protocol

Grape Protocol enables community building on Solana by linking Discord and Telegram to on-chain roles. Members earn rewards based on wallet holdings and community participation. Similar projects include:

• Access Protocol: A creator economy platform allowing fans to support content producers while earning
• Taki: A social network where users earn $TAKI tokens for engagement
• Chingari: A short-video app rewarding creators with GARI tokens

Elite NFT Collections

Genopets: The first move-to-earn NFT game merging physical activity with digital pet evolution

Okay Bears: Achieved mainstream recognition through a partnership with Zara, bringing NFTs into 1,100+ retail stores

Degenerate Ape Academy & Solana Punks: Community-driven collections with cultural significance in the ecosystem

What’s Next for Solana: The 2024 Outlook

The platform is targeting several upgrades: QUIC protocol implementation, stake-weighted Quality of Service to prevent congestion, local fee markets, and the Firedancer validator client. These technical improvements aim to boost reliability and performance.

Market adoption depends on sustaining developer interest, deepening partnerships with traditional finance, and addressing environmental concerns. The diverse project portfolio—spanning DeFi to gaming to physical infrastructure—suggests Solana has moved beyond speculation into building real applications.

The Bottom Line

Solana’s ecosystem has matured significantly. The best Solana projects demonstrate that the blockchain isn’t just fast—it’s becoming essential infrastructure for decentralized finance, NFTs, gaming, and emerging use cases like DePIN. Whether you’re exploring wallets like Phantom or Solflare, trading on Jupiter, staking via Marinade, or collecting on Magic Eden, the ecosystem offers legitimate pathways to participate in blockchain technology.

The projects mentioned here represent the strongest performers and most innovative builders currently operating on Solana. Tracking their development provides valuable insight into where blockchain technology is heading beyond 2024.