Solana, the fourth ranked cryptocurrency, has reclaimed its $100 billion market capitalization. Therefore, it has joined Bitcoin, Tether USDT and Ether as cryptocurrencies with market capitalization of more than $100 billion level. That development came after the Solana (SOL) price surged past $216. At the time of writing, SOL is traded at $196 SOL/USDT on Gate.io. However, this follows a 4.1% dip within the past 24 hours. On the other hand it gained by 32% during the past two months.
SOL Weekly Price Chart- Gate.io
As seen on the graph, SOL has been in an uptrend for the past two weeks. During the same period both bitcoin and Ether performed less favorably than it. For example, bitcoin gained by 29% while ETH surged by 29.6%.
To recall, SOL reached its ATH of $259.96 in November 2021. Currently, the cryptocurrency is trading at around 15% below that ATH. UnfortunatelyThe SOL price plunged to $8.68 in November 2020 following the FTX implosion. Based on its recent price trajectory some analysts believe that the altcoin may attain a new ATH during the current season. It is also important to note that the SOL/BTC trading pair has broken out from an 8-month horizontal channel. Significantly, that breakout may result in a head and shoulder pattern, which may lead to bitcoin appreciation against SOL. Bitcoin’s bullish outlook continues to influence the performance of other cryptocurrencies like SOL. At press time, bitcoin is priced at $96,443 BTC/USDT at Gate.io. This comes after it soared by 6.52% within the last 1 day.
Some Solana Maximalists anticipate that SOL may overtake ETH and Tether USDT to become the number one altcoin. No doubt, Solana’s performance improved in various ways while Ethereum has experienced stagnation during the greater part of the year. For example, Solana total-value-locked (TVL) has a 26% quarter-over-quarter growth in Q3. Also, SOL outperformed the broader crypto market in the last six days. One reason for its impressive performance might be the growth in its smart contract activity. For instance, the Solana TVL reached $7.6 billion on 10 November. This is because several decentralized applications (dApps) such as Jito, Drift and Radium have been performing well since the beginning of November. Liquid staking at Binance has also surged which has increased the demand for the altcoin.
In addition to the high performance of several Solana based meme coins, the launch of Pump.fun was a game changer for the blockchain. It has attracted much liquidity and hype. Also, Magic Eden, the NFT marketplace based on the Solana network, has been doing very well during the previous weeks. For instance, its active users increased to 77,160 during the last 30 days. In comparison OpenSea, another NFT marketplace that exists on the Ethereum network, had only 7,940 active addresses during the same period.
Solana Eyes a Strong Breakout
The current SOL bullish momentum increased after the altcoin broke above its 234-day consolidation on 5 November following Trump’s election victory in the United States. From there, its value increased by about 14% within a week to reach $224. During the past months the resistance area between $190 and $200 stalled the SOL price rally.
Currently, some market observers expect SOL’s price to reach $1,000 within the next few years, if not months. This will be the case if the altcoin gains by the same margin as it did in 2021. In the 2021 bull market, SOL rallied for 117 days when its value increased by 900%. Thus, if its price rises by a similar percentage it may surpass $1,000.
Solana Price Prediction
If the SOL price keeps on fluctuating above $200 it may head towards $260 SOL/USDT in the near future. However, it would need to break above $230, another key resistance level. If it breaks above these levels, its next target will be $400, a strong psychological key level. However, if the altcoin experiences a correction its price value may fall and fluctuate between $190 and $200.
Several key technical indicators show that SOL may maintain a bullish momentum for some more days or weeks. First, it has a Fear and Greed reading of 69% which shows high buyer interest in the asset. Also, on the four hour chart the SOL value is above its 50-day moving average. This is another strong bullish indication. At the same time, the 200-day EMA has been constantly rising, which is another bullish indication. Further to this , SOL has a Relative Strength Index (RSI) reading of 66.08. Thus, although the asset is in an uptrend it is not yet in the overbought state.
SOL 4-Hour Price Chart – Gate.io
The SOL 4-hour price chart, on Gate.io, shows that the altcoin is within a pull back. Now, the market waits to see if it’s just a correction or a trend change. Coincodex’s SOL price prediction shows that the asset may gain by 12.92% to reach $ 246.96 by 12 December. The same source suggests that someone who invests $1,000 in SOL riht now will likely have $ 1,679.44 within the next 237 days, generating a return on investment of 167.94%. Nevertheless, this is only possible if the economic and regulatory environments remain stable.
