Blockchain analytics firm Bitquery flagged $117.7 billion in Solana (SOL) decentralized exchange (DEX) volume as circular or bot-driven trades between Aug. 24 and Sept. 22, accounting for 58.4% of the $201.4 billion sample analyzed.
Automated Bots Drive $117B in Circular Solana Trades
Bitquery's reconstruction of Solana DEX activity revealed that $111.6 billion—roughly 95% of all flagged trades—involved buying and selling the same token within the exact same liquidity pool inside a single transaction. These round-trip transactions supply much of the network's recorded gross turnover while providing no real liquidity for independent traders.
In one example from Sept. 14, a wallet purchased a token named Claude from a PumpSwap pool while a second wallet sold almost the identical amount back to the pool in the same transaction. Both wallets signed the single transaction, generating about $2,000 in recorded trading volume. A subsequent GeckoTerminal snapshot on Sept. 24 revealed that the same Claude/SOL pool had effectively empty reserves and $0 in liquidity.
Bitquery also identified two distinct clusters of 20 and 50 wallets with closely mirrored trading patterns. Together, these two wallet groups were responsible for $26.3 billion of the total flagged amount.
Dashboard Mismatches and Execution Depth
Comparing raw volume numbers across platforms highlights significant methodology differences. A Sept. 24 snapshot of DefiLlama's Solana DEX dashboard listed rolling 30-day volume at $75.9 billion. For the exact window of Aug. 24 to Sept. 22, Bitquery reported $83.7 billion in unflagged trades, whereas DefiLlama recorded $78.8 billion across the entire chain.
DefiLlama's published adapter code requires pools on PumpSwap to meet specific quote token rules, hold at least $5,000 in total value locked (TVL), and feature at least 50 unique traders. However, address counts do not guarantee distinct human users. Bitquery instead screens underlying transaction signatures and wallet behaviors. Separate research published by Jump Crypto in April analyzed March execution fills in SOL/stablecoin markets using proprietary automated market makers (AMMs), demonstrating that liquidity conditions vary substantially depending on market structure across altcoin trading venues.
Key Takeaways
- $117.7B Flagged: Bitquery classified 58.4% of its $201.4B Solana DEX sample as botlike or circular activity.
- Single-Transaction Loops: $111.6B of flagged volume involved simultaneous buys and sells inside a single pool transaction.
- Wallet Clusters: Two wallet groups (20 and 50 addresses) generated $26.3B in wash trading.
- Unflagged Volume: Bitquery identified $83.7B in unflagged trades compared to DefiLlama's $78.8B chain-wide metric for the same timeframe.
Why It Matters
Reported DEX trading volume has long been treated as a leading benchmark for blockchain adoption and competitive standing, but widespread circular trading distorts these metrics. When over half of a network's reported DEX volume consists of automated bot loops within individual transactions, top-line figures fail to represent actual user demand or trade execution quality.
For traders and institutional participants, the findings underscore that gross DEX volume is an unreliable indicator of market depth. Evaluating executable liquidity requires pair-specific depth checks and slippage testing rather than relying on aggregate dashboard totals.
