Solana price nears $100 amid meme coin surge

Open-source blockchain platform, Solana’s native cryptocurrency, SOL, neared the $100 mark on Friday morning, extending a strong rally into its third consecutive week.

The value surge has coincided with a frenzy of meme coin activity and rising utilization metrics on the Solana platform.

Meme coin rally pushed by dog-themed token

A meme coin is a cryptocurrency that beneficial properties reputation and worth extra from viral on-line hype, jokes, and hypothesis quite than having any real-world utility. Essentially the most well-known instance is Dogecoin (DOGE), which options the favored Shiba Inu “Doge” web meme as its mascot and was created in 2013 as a joke mocking the flood of altcoins coming into the crypto market.

The catalyst to the present rally seems to be a viral dog-themed token referred to as BONK, which posted parabolic beneficial properties of over 1000% in late November. This captured the eye of retail crypto merchants and impressed a wave of animal-inspired “bonk” meme cash dashing to copy BONK’s success.

The largest breakout hit has been dogwifhat (WIF), which rewarded early consumers with returns of greater than 10,000% inside days.

Previously month, 1000’s of those speculative meme cash have launched on the Solana blockchain, the popular platform because of its low-cost, quick transaction throughput. Most tasks fizzle out rapidly after a short-term pump and dump, however the hype has directed a highlight again on Solana’s capabilities and revived broad-based retail curiosity in holding SOL.

On-chain exercise on Solana has exploded as a result. Buying and selling volumes and community charges over the previous week have surpassed Ethereum for the primary time. Spectacular for a blockchain that’s nonetheless lower than two years outdated. Whole worth locked in Solana’s booming decentralized finance ecosystem has equally catapulted from $400 million as lately as November to $1.3 billion in the present day.

Solana value soars

SOL’s value beneficial properties this yr now stand at over 800%, with an unlimited surge occurring inside the previous two months alone. And that’s regardless of large SOL promoting strain from the continuing chapter technique of crypto trade FTX, previously one of many largest holders of the token.

With builders and traders alike flocking to Solana as soon as extra, the blockchain’s thriving ecosystem and standing as an outlet for speculative mania ought to drive SOL quickly towards the vaunted $100 mark briefly order. The million-dollar query shall be whether or not the community can maintain this breakneck development past the meme coin hysteria.

“Solana is recovering extra steadily than most main opponents and exhibits extra curiosity in it locally, which guarantees to maintain its efficiency above the market within the coming months,” Alex Kuptsikevich, FxPro senior market analyst advised Coindesk on Friday.

He added: “Google searches on Solana have soared 250% up to now two months. Person curiosity has coincided with the explosive development of the asset and rising costs of associated meme cash.”

Featured picture: AI-generated depiction of meme cash from DALL-E

Sam Shedden

Sam Shedden is an skilled journalist and editor with over a decade of expertise in on-line information. A seasoned know-how author and content material strategist, he has contributed to many UK regional and nationwide publications.