Will the increased on-chain activity from Bybit's WSOT drive sustained user acquisition for Bybit and translate into higher trading volume or fee revenue in the long term? | SOL (Aug 21, 2025) | Candlesense

Will the increased on-chain activity from Bybit's WSOT drive sustained user acquisition for Bybit and translate into higher trading volume or fee revenue in the long term?

Short‑term outlook

The WSOT “On‑chain Wave” on Solana injects > $1 million in rewards, creating a burst of on‑chain activity and a clear marketing hook for developers and retail traders who are already active on Solana’s low‑latency, low‑fee ecosystem. In the next 2‑4 weeks we can expect a measurable uptick in new account sign‑ups, especially among the “DeFi‑first” crowd that gravitates to Solana’s fast‑finality and cheap transactions. This will translate into a modest, but noticeable, rise in daily trading volume on Bybit’s SOL‑related markets and a short‑term boost to fee‑take‑rate (≈ 0.02‑0.03 % on spot, higher on leveraged contracts).

Long‑term sustainability

Sustaining that momentum hinges on three factors:

  1. Network effects – Bybit’s on‑chain visibility on Solana can only lock in users if the exchange continues to deepen cross‑chain liquidity (e.g., bridging SOL to other assets, offering perpetuals, and integrating Solana‑native NFTs). One‑off reward campaigns tend to generate “fly‑by‑night” traders; without ongoing product depth, the churn rate will rise once the prize pool dries up.

  2. Fee economics – Solana’s ultra‑low transaction costs compress the per‑trade fee margin. Even with higher volume, the incremental fee revenue per user is modest compared with higher‑margin markets (e.g., Bitcoin, Ethereum). For Bybit to monetize the new base, it must upsell higher‑leverage contracts, margin products, or cross‑margin borrowing where fees are larger.

  3. Competitive landscape – Other major exchanges (e.g., Binance, OKX) are also launching Solana‑centric incentives. Bybit’s advantage will erode unless it institutionalises the WSOT model—regular on‑chain waves, staking incentives, or exclusive Solana‑liquidity pools—that create a recurring revenue stream rather than a single promotional spike.

Actionable take‑away

From a trading‑strategy perspective, the WSOT event creates a temporary bullish bias for SOL‑related order‑books on Bybit; short‑term long‑positions or liquidity‑providing strategies can capture the volume surge. However, the longer‑term outlook for sustained fee growth is conditional: monitor Bybit’s post‑WSOT product rollout (new perpetuals, cross‑margin features) and the retention rate of newly onboarded users (e.g., repeat‑trading metrics). If Bybit institutionalises on‑chain incentives and expands high‑margin offerings, the volume and fee uplift could become durable; otherwise, the impact will likely recede once the reward pool is exhausted.