Shock Report on Three Major Altcoins: Prices Plunge 50% While Networks Hit Record Highs

A new report released by Bitwise has revealed that while activity has increased and costs have decreased on the Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), and Avalanche (AVAX) networks, token prices have lost more than 50% of their value over the past year.

Price fluctuations in the cryptocurrency markets over the past year have caused a widening gap between the fundamental data of blockchain networks and market sentiment. According to the first quarterly staking report prepared by Bitwise, although networks have become busier and cheaper than ever, the native assets of these projects have significantly declined compared to a year ago. The reduction in transaction costs and more accessible block space have increased user activity while leading to a decrease in protocol revenues.

Bitwise Onchain Research Manager Kam Benbrik stated that despite the drop in prices, on-chain data shows that the networks are strengthening. In particular, updates to network designs have allowed transactions to be carried out more economically. However, while this situation has caused network revenues to decline, it proves that institutional interest has not waned.

Staking Rewards and Dilution Risk for Investors

One of the most notable elements in the report was the source of staking yields. A large portion of staking rewards—which are 2.84% annually for Ethereum and 6.25% for Solana—comes from new token emissions rather than network fees. 93% of Ethereum rewards and more than 90% of Solana rewards consist of newly minted tokens. This means that investors who do not stake their assets face a dilution risk due to inflation.

Institutional investors’ interest in the staking ecosystem continues to grow rapidly. 40.2 million ETH, equivalent to one-third of the total supply, is currently staked. On the institutional side, Bitmine stands out as the largest treasury in this field, staking 4.9 million of its approximately 5.8 million ETH assets. Large players, such as ETFs and corporate treasuries, have begun to use liquid staking solutions more actively to both generate yield and support network security.