Solana Active Addresses Hit 12-Month Low Amid Fading Memecoin Hype, as FanDuel, CME Group Announce Partnership

The Solana blockchain has seen a notable slowdown in user activity, with daily active addresses dropping to approximately 3.3 million—a 12-month low and a roughly 67% decline from the January 2025 peak of over 9 million.

This metric, which tracks unique addresses signing transactions, reflects the network’s heavy reliance on speculative memecoin trading that drove explosive growth in late 2024 and early 2025.

As that frenzy subsided throughout the year, participation has normalized toward more sustainable levels, highlighting vulnerabilities in ecosystems tied to single-use cases like token launches. Despite the dip, Solana shows signs of resilience: DeFi TVL steady at ~$10B: Protocols like Jupiter, Kamino, and Jito continue to anchor liquidity and infrastructure.

Memecoin niche persists: Platforms such as Pump.fun still generate over $1M in daily volume, holding ~90% market share for token launchpads. Spot Solana ETFs like Bitwise’s BSOL and Grayscale’s GSOL recorded strong inflows last week, totaling $6.8M, outpacing Bitcoin and Ethereum funds.

Whale accumulation has also risen, with net spot inflows averaging $26M on major exchanges. This cooldown could ultimately benefit Solana by shifting focus to durable applications like payments, gaming, and real-world asset (RWA) tokenization.

However, it underscores the need for broader diversification to weather narrative shifts. As of November 13, SOL trades around $155, with key support at $148–152 and resistance near $172. Recent X discussions echo this sentiment, with users like Scottmelker highlighting the drop as a key metric and Inthecryptoflow noting it might improve the ecosystem’s long-term reputation by weeding out pure speculators.

a16z Leads $10M Round for Privacy L1 Seismic, Total Funding Hits $17M

In a contrasting tale of innovation, crypto startup Seismic has secured $10M in fresh funding to advance its privacy-focused Layer 1 blockchain, bringing total capital raised to $17M.

The round was led by a16z crypto, with participation from Polychain Capital, Amber Group, TrueBridge Capital, dao5, and LayerZero Labs. This follows an earlier $7M seed in March 2025, also led by a16z.

Seismic’s core offering is an encrypted blockchain infrastructure that enables app-level privacy for fintechs, allowing them to process crypto transactions (e.g., on/off ramps, card programs, stablecoin accounts) without exposing sensitive customer data.

Built with Rust and REVM for EVM compatibility, it abstracts complex cryptography like zero-knowledge proofs, making it developer-friendly for DeFi, payments, identity, and secure data sharing. Key features include: Modular SDKs/APIs for plug-and-play encryption.

TEE-secured channels to bridge public blockchain transparency with institutional confidentiality needs. Composable privacy primitives that avoid the pitfalls of local ZK-proof generation.

The timing aligns with rising demand: a16z’s “State of Crypto” report notes a 400% YoY surge in Google searches for “crypto privacy solutions” in 2025, driven by regulatory pressures and data leak concerns. Seismic has already partnered with fintechs like Brookwell stablecoin accounts and Cred private credit, routing transactions through private rails to comply with GDPR-like standards.

This investment signals a16z’s bet on privacy as a “must-have” for mainstream adoption, positioning Seismic to compete with projects like Cardano’s Midnight sidechain or Tempo. On X, founder lyronctk’s announcement post garnered many interactions, with community buzz around its potential for Web3-fintech integration.

These developments paint a maturing crypto landscape: Solana grapples with post-hype stabilization, while Seismic exemplifies targeted VC backing for unsolved problems like privacy. Both could catalyze broader ecosystem growth if they pivot toward utility over speculation.

FanDuel and CME Group Announce Prediction Markets Partnership

FanDuel has partnered with CME Group to launch a new prediction markets platform, marking a significant expansion into event-based trading. The collaboration was first announced in August 2025 and detailed further on November 12, 2025, with a planned launch in December 2025.

This move combines FanDuel’s expertise in user-friendly mobile gaming and its massive U.S. customer base over 17 million users with CME Group’s century-long leadership in regulated derivatives markets.

The new standalone mobile app, FanDuel Predicts, will debut in December 2025. It will be available nationwide in the U.S., with a focus on states without legal online sports betting, allowing broader access to financial-style trading.

Contracts on outcomes in football, basketball, hockey, and baseball (e.g., game winners, totals, or other event-based predictions). Non-sports markets including S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 benchmarks, oil and gas prices, gold, cryptocurrencies, GDP, and CPI.

Users will buy and sell “event contracts” priced between $0.01 and $0.99, similar to binary options. Contracts settle based on real-world outcomes, with CME Group handling pricing, clearing, and settlement for regulatory compliance under the CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission).

Requires standard KYC verification (birth date, SSN, address, banking info, ID). Includes educational resources on prediction markets, spending trackers, deposit limits/alerts, and self-exclusion options—mirroring FanDuel’s responsible gaming tools.

Operates as a non-clearing Futures Commission Merchant (FCM) to facilitate trades without direct clearing risks. As sports betting taxes and regulations intensify in states like Illinois up to 40% on revenue, FanDuel is diversifying into CFTC-regulated prediction markets.

This builds on Flutter Entertainment’s Betfair Exchange in the UK and aims to attract “a new generation” of traders, as noted by CME CEO Terry Duffy. Amy Howe, CEO of FanDuel: “We can’t wait to bring FanDuel’s proven approach to product innovation into this dynamic sector.

Our partnership with CME Group allows us to leverage their deep market expertise built over decades while delivering the seamless, accessible and trusted experience our customers expect.”  Terry Duffy, Chairman & CEO of CME Group: “Our new event contracts on benchmarks, economic indicators and now sports will appeal to a new generation of potential participants who are not active in these markets today.

This launch will dramatically expand our distribution and reach, connecting directly with FanDuel’s millions of registered U.S. customers.” This partnership positions FanDuel as a bridge between entertainment betting and sophisticated financial trading, potentially challenging platforms like Kalshi or Robinhood in the growing U.S. prediction markets space projected to expand amid rising interest in event-based speculation.

By structuring contracts as CFTC-regulated event trades binary options priced $0.01–$0.99, FanDuel can offer sports outcomes in the 40+ states without online sports betting legalization. This creates a federally compliant workaround to patchwork state laws, potentially unlocking millions in untapped revenue without needing new licenses or taxes.

However, sports contracts will phase out in states as betting legalizes to comply with dual regulations. The app mandates KYC verification and includes FanDuel’s responsible gaming tools deposit limits, self-exclusion, spending trackers, plus CME’s risk management for clearing and settlement.

This promotes safer trading but could deter casual users due to the SSN/ID requirements, blurring lines between “fun” betting and “serious” investing. As a non-clearing FCM model, this could accelerate CFTC approvals for similar platforms, encouraging sportsbooks to pivot from state-dependent models to federal derivatives.

Analysts, including Deutsche Bank, have upgraded CME Group’s stock outlook partly due to this growth driver, raising the price target to $300 from $266. Financial terms weren’t disclosed, but it underscores a trend of sportsbooks evolving into fintech hybrids.