Original Author: Krisztian Sandor
Original Title: Solana Joins $100B Club, Hitting Nearly a Three-Year High Above $210
Original Source: Coindesk
Translated by: Koala, Mars Finance
An analyst noted that given the relative strength of cryptocurrencies during an eight-month consolidation phase, the fourth-largest cryptocurrency could reach its historical high of $260 from 2021 in the coming days.
Solana's native cryptocurrency (SOL) set a new milestone on Sunday as Bitcoin (BTC) broke to new high prices, accelerating a broad cryptocurrency rebound following Donald Trump's decisive electoral victory and further interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.
SOL broke through the March to April cycle high, reaching $212 for the first time since the peak of the cryptocurrency bull market in 2021. The token rose 34% this week, leading BTC's 18% increase and the broader CoinDesk 20 index's 27% rise. SOL's all-time high is $260, just a little over 20% above the current price of $214.
This week's increase pushed SOL's market cap to over $100 billion, joining only three other cryptocurrencies in history that have surpassed this threshold for a longer period: of course Bitcoin, the leading first-layer smart contract platform Ethereum's Ether (ETH), and the dominant stablecoin Tether (USDT). Discussions of a 'turnaround' have returned to cryptocurrency Twitter, but this time, there are thoughts that SOL's market cap could eventually surpass ETH, which currently has a market cap of about $389 billion.
After the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX and Alameda Research in 2022, Solana achieved an astonishing recovery, with Alameda Research being a major supporter of this emerging smart contract platform. The chain has become the preferred ecosystem for retail cryptocurrency users and has also been a hotbed for the current memecoin craze, hosting popular protocols like pump.fun. A recent report from Coinbase noted that the revival of decentralized finance (DeFi) activity has also benefited the network, making Solana's on-chain transaction ecosystem the third-largest profit area in cryptocurrency. In the Bitcoin-dominated bull market over the past year, Solana's token has stood out among altcoins, growing by 275% year-on-year.
Julien Bittel, Head of Macro Research at Global Macro Investor, pointed out that Solana's milestone has broader implications for the cryptocurrency market. SOL broke out of an eight-month sideways consolidation channel, indicating that a wider cryptocurrency bull market may have entered its most explosive phase, often referred to as the 'banana zone' due to its near-vertical rebound.
"We have just officially entered the next phase of the bull market," prominent cross-asset trader Bob Loukas said in a post on X on Sunday. In a prior post, he predicted that given SOL's strength relative to other markets, its price could hit an all-time high in the coming weeks.
"Now, it’s not surprising that SOL reached its all-time high in 14 days," he said on Tuesday. "By 2025, this situation could become absurd."
The performance of SOL has outpaced Bitcoin and many other currencies, partly due to widespread optimism that the Trump administration (including a possibly new head of the SEC) will approve a spot Solana ETF, dispelling regulators' claims that SOL is an unregistered security.
