The price of Solana (SOL) has corrected after jumping to a 30-day record of $107 last week as decentralized finance (DeFi) activity increased on the network. The rise in activity pumped investor confidence, attracting more funds as network activity continued.
According to CoinMarketCap data, SOL is trading at $96.64 after losing 0.69% over the last 7 days. However, despite the fluctuation, there is more than enough reason to be bullish about the world’s fifth-largest cryptocurrency.
Several recent developments prove that Solana adoption is still on the rise. The layer-1 network, sometimes called the Ethereum killer, has gained much traction and seen its use cases increase significantly. For instance, Solana is a great alternative to Ethereum in the non-fungible token (NFT) market. This is because of several factors, including impressive transaction speeds, energy efficiency, and low transaction fees. In addition to NFTs, Solana is primed for blockchain entertainment, especially with gambling and online casinos. Gamblers can enjoy playing their favorite games by depositing SOL on a Solana casino to access several exciting benefits, including a 200% bonus on deposits and free spins to increase the chance of a win.
Solana Bucks The Trend
Solana’s recent performance defied the general movement in the crypto market, jumping 12.4% when other assets fell by 2.5% and lost more than $40 billion. This happened within 24 hours of US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s confirmation that the apex bank left interest rates unchanged. In addition, Powell said it is unlikely that the Fed would be ready to increase rates at the next Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) in March. Although the news sent the crypto and traditional markets tumbling, Solana swam against the current.
One factor in favor of SOL is the increase in the asset’s DeFi market share. Data from DefiLlama shows that between December 31 and January 31, Solana’s DeFi dominance climbed to 26.9% from 16.5%. Data also indicates that Solana’s trading volumes jumped 15.2% to the number one spot, beating out Ether (ETH) and Arbitrum (ARB).
Solana also ended January at an all-time high for active users, with data showing that the network’s user count surpassed 875,000 as of January 31. Its five-day average for the same period was 578,000, beating the 458,210 peak network recorded in 2023 by 26%. The increase in Solana’s trading volume shows the asset is in healthy demand, indicating a bullish short-term future.
Solana Forecast
Analysts now expect Solana to scale the current all-time high (ATH), all the way to $120. A technical analysis of Solana and its price trajectory correlates with this, supporting a potential bullish spike due to the asset breaking through critical levels. Also, at $96, SOL has broken past the 20-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) price of $93. This means that SOL’s market movement is healthy and will likely push away the bears.
However, there is a chance that the bears can plunge SOL back to $80 and possibly lower. If this does not happen, the bears could still force resistance at $103, making the journey to $120 difficult. Nonetheless, any movement past $103 would put SOL right in the path of $120.
Conclusion: Solana to Take Over
An even more bullish forecast came last month from popular crypto influencer and YouTuber Jake Gagain. According to Gagain, SOL will hit $750 this year, supported by several expected events in the crypto industry.
The YouTuber argues that Solana’s capacity for scalability and speed is already quite the advantage for the asset. With a possible 2024 resurgence after the widespread decline in the NFT market, Solana already seems poised to benefit if this happens.
Another factor is the possibility of a spot SOL ETF, stemming from the general optimism that more assets will see spot ETFs following the recent approval of the Bitcoin products. Considering that SOL returned more than 900% to investors last year — starting the year at $9.9 and ending at $106.3 — 2024 is already looking good for Solana.
