Solana has been on a roll, with SOL rising 30% in July. What is the outlook for the market going forward?
Solana (SOL) has become the fourth largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, surpassing BNB (which ranks fifth). According to CoinGecko, as of July 30, the current price of SOL is $183, having reached a daily high of $187.20.
Additionally, the Solana chain has for the first time surpassed Ethereum in terms of transaction fee revenue last week. On July 22, Solana's revenue was approximately $25 million, exceeding Ethereum's $21 million. On July 28, Solana's single-day revenue reached $5.5 million, marking the highest record in three months.
The liquid staking tokens of Solana are increasing on-chain activity, with its total value locked (TVL) exceeding $5.4 billion, ranking third among all public chains, only behind Ethereum and Tron.
The price of the SOL token has risen from $140 at the beginning of July to $183 today (July 30). A 30% monthly return is expected, with the potential to challenge its annual high of around $210 in the coming weeks.
While most community members attribute SOL's success to the Solana memecoin craze, the network's robust liquid staking ecosystem is gradually becoming a strong on-chain narrative. With the growth of liquid staking and other decentralized finance applications, the future prospects of the Solana network are optimistic. Let's take a look at how this trend is developing on the Solana network.
Liquid Staking Tokens Lead Solana DeFi TVL Growth
According to Defillama, Solana's total value locked (TVL) surged by 10%, reaching $5.46 billion. Consequently, trading volume increased, and on-chain activity rose as well.
The liquid staking projects Jito and Marinade are the leading protocols on Solana, with their TVL increasing by 40% and 30% respectively over the past month.
Liquid staking is a process that combines the advantages of staking and liquidity. Liquid staking allows stakers to maintain the liquidity of their staked tokens by using alternative tokens, which they can use to earn additional yields through DeFi protocols. In other words, holders can stake their tokens in a smart contract or staking pool and receive a token that represents their staked SOL.
This token is known as a liquid staking token (LST), which can earn yields in other protocols or be used in decentralized finance applications. For Jito and Marinade, these tokens are JitoSOL and mSOL, respectively.
According to Dune Analytics, the total amount of SOL in liquid staking derivatives has more than doubled in 2024. The staked LST increased from 163,827 to 807,712, growing by 393% between June 1 and July 26.
Data analysis platform Token Terminal shows that Solana's daily active users and weekly active users increased by 21% and 59%, respectively. The increase in active users coincided with the rise in TVL for Jito and Marinade. Therefore, it can be inferred that currently, it is not just memecoins that are attracting users to the Solana network.
Solana Memecoin Sector
The rapid development of Solana is not only attributed to its technology and liquid staking ecosystem but also driven by memecoins. According to CoinGecko, the total market capitalization of Solana memecoins has reached $9.1 billion. Recently popular ones include LandWolf, Neiro, and FWOG. These memecoins cover a variety of themes from dogs and cats to politicians, attracting significant attention from users and investors.
Recently, the dog-themed memecoin NEIRO reached a market cap of $40 million and a trading volume of $246 million just 15 hours after launch; while today, the new memecoin FWOG achieved a trading volume of $44.7 million within 5 hours of its launch. Such memecoins are continuously emerging on Solana, attracting user and capital influx, further driving the rapid development of the Solana network.
Will SOL Break Resistance and Challenge Annual Highs This Week?
The price of SOL has shown remarkable performance over the past few weeks, steadily rising within a decisive symmetrical triangle. According to TradingView's candlestick analysis, the price is currently testing the upper resistance level of the triangle, and breaking this resistance could trigger a bullish trend with a target of $203. Further increases may test higher targets: $229, $239, or even ultimately reach $250. As of the time of writing, SOL has broken a bullish double bottom pattern, with the current upper resistance at $202.
Although the upper resistance is weak, the probability of retesting the annual high is high; however, Solana is currently experiencing a pullback, with the price falling below the $190 mark. If Solana continues to maintain a bullish trend, its recent target remains in the $200 to $220 range. Conversely, if it loses the immediate support range of $180, SOL may retest the previous low of $165.
Meanwhile, options trader Trader Wick leans bullish, stating that SOL/USD is once again leading the crypto market rebound. "Solana has always performed well during rebounds," he noted. "Now that it has broken through resistance, it usually opens up a new trend."
Solana is a blockchain platform designed to host decentralized, scalable applications. Founded in 2017, it is an open-source project currently operated by the Solana Foundation based in Geneva, while the blockchain is built by Solana Labs based in San Francisco. Solana processes transactions faster and has significantly lower transaction fees compared to competitors like Ethereum.
