Solana followed Bitcoin rally on Mar. 4, gaining as much as 7% in 24 hours and usurping Binance’s BNB coin for a higher rank among the top five cryptocurrencies. Solana (SOL) has become the fourth largest cryptocurrency in the world ahead of BNB, following an ascent above $140, as tokens across the market saw double-digit gains. SOL’s rise took the digital asset to a two-year high and levels last seen in April 2022, three months after the peak of 2021’s bull run.
The Solana milestone arrived on the heels of Bitcoin’s (BTC) new all-time high (ATH), as the leading crypto token rose past $69,000 before retreating to around $65,000 at press time, per CoinGecko. Bitcoin’s retrace was likely due to market selloffs, as traders booked profits and the cryptocurrency faced a technical resistance wall at its ATH.
Solana and Bitcoin Rallying
Reports said that the total cryptocurrency market cap has increased by 3% in 24 hours as Bitcoin and SOL pumped to higher prices. The increase carried crypto’s total market cap over $2.54 trillion, resulting in 35% or more gains for two particular coins.
Trading volumes of over $1.5 billion allowed eCash (XEC) to skyrocket over 53% in a single day, although the crypto is still 88% away from its previous ATH recorded in November 2021. Launched in July 2021, eCash is a rebrand of the Bitcoin fork, Bitcoin Cash ABC, and exists solely as a digital payment method for goods and services.
SOL Network Activity Continues to Surge
SOL unique transaction initiators, a measure of the active users, have been experiencing exponential growth over the past 6 months, with this trend continuing over the last two weeks. On February 20th, the daily count of unique transaction initiators stood at roughly 400,000. By March 4th, that number had climbed significantly to nearly 600,000. While not a direct indicator of price, this metric suggests increased user engagement with Solana applications, potentially influencing network activity and consequently, the price of SOL tokens.
The number of decentralized exchange (DEX) trades on SOL paints a similar picture. Since September 2023, DEX trades have been on a consistent upward trajectory, with an additional increase observed in the last 14 days.
On February 20th, DEX trades on Solana amounted to 2.88 million. Meanwhile, this number jumped into 4.31 million on March 4th, representing a substantial 66% increase within a mere 2 weeks.
This trend suggests a growing user base willing to dedicate more time to interacting with decentralized applications (dApps) built on the Solana blockchain. As the majority of tokens launched on Solana DEXs are traded using SOL, this rise in user activity could directly impact the price of SOL as more individuals engage in speculation on Solana-based tokens.
