solana, a prominent player in the crypto market, has recently witnessed a substantial price surge of over 30% within a week. This significant uptick reflects growing confidence and optimism among investors regarding solana’s capabilities. However, some concerns have arisen about the potential impact of historic negative sentiment over the weekend on its price movement.
solana registers massive weekly gains
solana’s native token, SOL, reached its highest point in 23 months on March 1 and is currently trading up by 34.2% compared to a week ago. With a current market value of $129.68, SOL is closing the gap with its third-place contender, Binance Coin (bnb).
At present, bnb is trading at $409.28 with a market capitalization of $61.20 billion USD. The 24-hour trading volume for bnb is $1.54 billion USD, and the token is up by 0.96% in the last 24 hours, with a circulating supply of 149.54 million.
Given that market conditions, price action, developments, supply, and use cases will all influence solana’s SOL price over the weekend, it is crucial to understand what drove this recent rally.
Factors driving solana’s SOL price
One significant factor contributing to the surge in solana’s price is the growing demand for its ecosystem, particularly the solana Program Library (SPL) memecoins. Bonk and DogWifHat have seen impressive gains in recent days, with increases of 110% and 250%, respectively.
In contrast, memecoins like Pepe and dogecoin have only seen moderate growth of 17.7% and a decrease of roughly 3%, respectively.
According to CoinGecko, the memecoin market capitalization has seen an overall increase of 8.3% in the last week, while the entire global cryptocurrency market capitalization has only grown by 0.1%.
solana’s TVL and network performance
To better understand the demand for SOL, it is essential to examine solana network indicators. As a crucial component of decentralized exchange (DEX) trading, staking solutions, non-fungible token (NFT) marketplaces, and other decentralized applications (DApps), such as gambling, games, and social networks, SOL plays a significant role.
The total value locked (TVL) in solana’s smart contracts can significantly impact its pricing. A greater TVL signifies increased user engagement and demand for solana-based DApps, which could positively influence prices.
Recent data shows that solana’s TVL has reached a significant milestone: its highest level since November 2022, with a total of 40.7 million SOL, representing a 30% year-to-date increase in 2024. Currently, solana’s TVL stands at $2.498 billion.
solana’s success in generating greater activity for DApps than other platforms is evident from its strong growth, primarily focused on the OpenSea NFT marketplace. With a weekly volume of $7.8 billion according to DappRadar, the leading NFT marketplace accounts for a significant portion of solana’s overall success.
Conclusion
In conclusion, solana’s recent price surge can be attributed to its growing ecosystem and the increased demand for SPL memecoins. Moreover, the strong performance of the OpenSea NFT marketplace has significantly impacted solana’s success. However, it remains to be seen whether this outperformance against competitors can be sustained, as there are concerns about the potential impact of historic negative sentiment over the weekend.
Despite these concerns, crypto experts predict that SOL’s minimum price for the weekend will be $116.25, with a high of $131.59.
Ultimately, solana’s future price trajectory will depend on various factors such as market conditions, regulatory developments, competition, and user adoption. Only time will tell whether solana can maintain its momentum and solidify its position in the crypto market.
