The Solana token has retreated over the past few days.
The total value locked (TVL) in the Solana ecosystem has increased significantly.
As network fees rise, Solana’s staking yield has risen significantly.
Solana price is on track for its first weekly loss in four weeks as recent bullish momentum fades. The SOL token is trading at $240, a few percent below its year-to-date high of $264.7. It remains one of the best performing large-cap cryptocurrencies as it has jumped more than 2,700% from its 2023 low.
The Solana Ecosystem is Thriving
The Solana network is firing on all cylinders, posting its best performance of the year so far. Its ecosystem has grown rapidly over the past few months, with analysts viewing it as the biggest threat to Ethereum.
Data shows that Solana’s total locked value (TVL) in the decentralized finance (DeFi) industry has surged more than 50% in the past 30 days to over $9 billion.
Jito is the largest network on Solana with over $3.45 billion worth of staked assets, making it the most profitable network. Its 24-hour fees are $7.1 million, slightly lower than Solana’s $7.4 million.
Jupiter has over $2.4 billion in assets, while Kamino, Raydium, Marinade, and Sanctum have billions in assets. In total, Solana’s seven DeFi protocols have over $1 billion in assets locked.
Due to the active ecosystem, the daily fees of the Solana network have also increased significantly. Its 24-hour fee income exceeded $7.4 million, much higher than Etherejm's $1.08 million in the same period.
Solana has also become the largest decentralized exchange (DEX) chain. Data shows that the Solana protocol has processed more than $128 billion in trading volume in the past 30 days, while Ethereum's trading volume is $69.2 billion. It is also much higher than the $44 billion processed by Base Blockchain.
The growth in DEX trading volume is mainly due to the popularity of Solana’s meme coins, which now have a market capitalization of over $20 billion. The largest of these coins include Bonk, Dogwifhat, Popcat, and Cat in a dogs world.
Solana has become a popular blockchain for issuing meme coins thanks to the fast-growing token generator Pump.fun, which has generated over $1 billion in annualized fees according to DeFi LLama, which is a remarkable feat for a project that launched just a few years ago.
Therefore, as Solana continues to gain market share in various areas of the blockchain industry, its price will most likely continue to perform well.
Meanwhile, there are hopes for a Solana spot ETF to launch as early as 2025. Donald Trump promised to be a crypto-friendly president with good regulations. This is different from Joe Biden who appointed Gary Gensler as the chairman of the SEC.
Solana also offers higher staking returns than other networks. Its current return rate is about 6%, higher than Ethereum's 3.24%, Sui's 3.1%, and Cardano's 2.1%. This means that investing $10,000 in Solana will bring in about $600 in staking fees per year.
Solana Price Prediction
The weekly chart shows that the SOL price has performed well over the past few months. It has risen by more than 2,700% from its lowest point in 2023. The coin has broken above its 50-week exponential moving average.
Solana has formed a cup with handle pattern, which is a common bullish signal. This is one of the most bullish signals during most periods. The depth of the handle is about 95%, which means it could jump to $512.
Another thing about Solana’s price is that the MACD and the relative strength index (RSI) have been rising over the past few weeks. Among them, the RSI has moved to overbought levels, while the MACD indicator is pointing upwards. The stop loss for this trade would be $210, which is the high on March 18.