Solana (SOL) price is up 13% over the last seven days to trade at $218 on Nov. 14.
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed Solana price rose from a low of $156 on Nov. 5, climbing as much as 43% to reach a two-year high of $225 on Nov. 12. This has sparked optimism among traders that the layer-1 token could continue its ascent toward the all-time high of $260, especially after Bitcoin (BTC) crossed the $90,000 mark to set a fresh all-time high at $93,434.
SOL/USD daily chart. Source: TradingView
The upward momentum aligns with a broader cryptocurrency market rally and strong fundamentals within the Solana ecosystem.
Let’s look at the factors that could drive SOL toward its all-time highs.
SOL price backed by strong onchain metrics
SOL’s bullish performance over the last week could be attributed to increased investor confidence fueled by Solana’s onchain activity, evidenced by increasing weekly volumes of Solana-based DEXs.
Weekly DEX volumes on Solana surged to an all-time high of $26.1 billion in the week ending Nov. 11, representing a 43% increase from the previous week’s $18.1 billion. Notably, Solana commands a 37% market share, surpassing even the leading DApp-focused blockchain, Ethereum, which recorded a DEX volume of $13 billion during the week ending Nov. 11.
Solana weekly DEX volumes, USD. Source: DefiLlama
Solana has also witnessed an increase in the total value locked (TVL) in its smart contracts, suggesting increased user interaction and demand for the SOL token.
Additional data from DefiLlama showed that the TVL on Solana escalated to $7.9 billion by Nov. 13, representing a 460% increase year-to-date and marking the highest since December 2021. Key decentralized applications (DApps) like Jito, Raydium, Marinade and Binance’s liquid staking significantly contributed to the growing deposits on Solana.
Total value locked on Solana, USD. Source: DefiLlama
These onchain metrics provide credible evidence that the layer-1 network has attracted users beyond the memecoin craze, suggesting that SOL’s price may see further upside.
Solana open interest hits all-time highs
SOL’s price growth over the past week was accompanied by an uptick in leveraged positions, with the aggregate open interest (OI) for Solana futures reaching an all-time high on Nov. 12.
According to data from CoinGlass, SOL futures open interest surged to $4.54 billion on Nov. 12, a 57% increase from the previous week. This reflects a strong adoption of SOL derivatives, suggesting rising institutional interest but also introducing potential risks.
Solana futures aggregate open interest, SOL. Source: CoinGlass
Despite the higher risk of forced liquidations in the event of a SOL price correction, derivatives data points to further upside potential.
Solana-based memecoins flash green
Solana’s rally on Nov. 14 coincides with an ongoing correction in the prices of memecoins on its network. Most are posting double-digit daily gains, as shown in the figure below.
Solana-based tokens performance. Source: CoinGecko
For instance, Dogwifhat (WIF), the leading Solana memecoin by market capitalization, has rallied over 42% over a 24-hour timeframe. Similarly, Bonk (BONK), Peanut the Squirrel (PNUT) and Popcat (POPCAT) have risen by 20%, 42% and 32%, respectively, over the past day, according to data from CoinGecko.
Additional data provided by Dune Analytics dashboard pump reveals that SOL’s price growth on Nov. 14, in particular, was preceded by a sharp increase in the number of transactions deployed on the network.
The chart below shows that daily transactions on the Solana blockchain increased from 24,140 to 36,053 between Nov. 9 and Nov. 13.
Solana’s deployed transactions performance chart. Source: Pump.Fun
The increase in memecoin activity and onchain transactions on Solana indicates high network activity and growing adoption. More user interaction with the platform leads to increased transactions and network usage, increasing demand for SOL and positively impacting its price.
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.
