In a comeback story for the ages, Solana surged from the depths of crypto’s winter in 2022 into the limelight this 12 months, turning into one of the utilized blockchains for crypto lovers and retail novices alike.
“Chewing glass is in our DNA, and we’ll get by means of collectively.” Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko posted on Twitter (aka X) in the course of the winter of 2022.
Quick ahead two years, amid increasing threat appetites and meme coin mania, Solana in 2024 has witnessed explosive consumer development.
The blockchain is poised to shake previous narratives about its frequent outages and technical inferiorities, with impending technological unlocks like software program consumer Firedancer simply across the nook.
With the value of its native token—SOL—leaping practically 200% within the final 12 months, Solana now sits because the fifth largest cryptocurrency by market cap, as improved regulatory readability and ETF hypothesis have Solana lovers hoping for much more within the close to future.
Earlier than that, let’s revisit the 12 months of Solana in 2024.
Solana reestablishes footing, breaks all-time excessive
As soon as buying and selling at a mere $8 following the FTX collapse in late 2022, Solana has staged a rare comeback, gaining over 275% this 12 months and briefly reaching a brand new all-time excessive.
Dismissed by some as a casualty of the crypto winter, Solana’s revival showcases the resilience of its ecosystem, which co-founder of competing layer-1 Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin, as soon as cheered on.
Information gathered from the final 12 months by Syncracy reveals that Solana has surpassed Ethereum, the second largest crypto asset, in key metrics akin to actual financial worth, lively addresses, and decentralized trade quantity, regardless of its market cap remaining a fraction of Ethereum’s.
Whereas its worth has retraced 17% from its November 23 all-time excessive of $263, the chance of Solana ETFs is rising, probably positioning the community’s native token for higher adoption by means of conventional monetary mediums.
Meme coin supercycle?
Meme cash, tokens identified for his or her ties to web memes and popular culture occasions, noticed an unprecedented surge on Solana in 2024, driving a wave of cultural relevance and rampant hypothesis.
Whereas meme cash usually are not a brand new phenomenon, iconic tokens like Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB) at the moment are the highest 15 tokens by market cap and darlings of the earlier cycle. The sheer proliferation of recent tokens on Solana led to what some dubbed the “meme coin supercycle.”
The cycle’s catalyst? Platforms like Pump.enjoyable, a meme coin launchpad that democratized token creation, permitting any consumer to create a brand new token with just some clicks.
This accessibility fueled the creation of greater than 4 million tokens for the reason that platform launch in January 2024.
Whereas most maintain no worth now, some have led merchants to important beneficial properties and have turn out to be notable sufficient to commerce throughout the high 100 cash by market capitalization.
The Solana Saga
The Solana Saga, Solana’s first smartphone, initially launched to muted enthusiasm amongst diehard Solana neighborhood members however skilled a resurgence in late 2023.
A final-minute frenzy ensued as customers clamored to safe airdrops linked to the cellphone’s soulbound token, in the end driving the Saga to promote out.
Constructing on that momentum, Solana launched a second version, the Seeker, in 2024. Seeker gives cellphone patrons a less expensive different to the Saga, but with upgraded {hardware}.
Set to launch in Q1 2025, the Seeker has already registered over 140,000 pre-orders and greater than $65 million in gadgets.
Solana’s real-world connections transcend smartphones, extending to handheld gaming gadgets and a slew of decentralized infrastructure (DePIN) tasks.
These tasks are trying to reinvent real-world infrastructure utilizing decentralized networks and blockchain expertise, a probably revolutionary shift in keeping with some proponents.
Take, for instance, Helium, a decentralized cell community, and Teleport, a ride-sharing platform leveraging Solana’s expertise, have seen important development in 2024. Helium’s Cellular token (MOBILE) has surged over 300% year-to-date, underscoring the momentum within the sector.
Technical enhancements are coming
Solana’s technical spine has, at occasions, wavered because the blockchain battled points with downtime and outages previously. Nevertheless, enhancements to its infrastructure are quick approaching, most notably with the discharge of Solana Firedancer.
Firedancer, spearheaded by crypto funding firm and infrastructure developer Soar Crypto, was the spotlight of Solana’s current Breakpoint convention in Singapore.
The modern validator consumer is designed to optimize {hardware} utilization and eradicate software program inefficiencies, setting the stage for bettering Solana’s community efficiency.
An early prototype of Firedancer—Freakdancer—went reside on Solana’s mainnet in September. Thus far, no outages have been reported in that point, in keeping with an uptime web page.
Establishments suppose Solana has grown up
Lively crypto members have flocked to Solana in droves this 12 months, however world establishments are additionally lurking, together with VanEck. Only a 12 months after Visa’s detailed evaluation of Solana’s scalability, low-cost construction, and suitability for funds, different monetary giants have joined the Solana ecosystem.
PayPal made headlines in early 2024 by enabling its PYUSD stablecoin on Solana, underscoring the blockchain’s potential as a spine for digital funds and emphasizing that PYUSD on Solana unlocked “important advantages for commerce use circumstances.”
Main monetary gamers purpose to convey the blockchain’s native token into the identical mainstream funding channels as Bitcoin and Ethereum proceed to supply broader entry to mainstream monetary members.
Edited by Sebastian Sinclair
Each day Debrief Publication
Begin every single day with the highest information tales proper now, plus authentic options, a podcast, movies and extra.