Solana Hits New All-time High, Is It too Late to Buy SOL?

Solana (SOL) is one of the most sought-after public blockchains this week. The project roared from the 42nd position to enter the list of the top ten most valuable crypto in terms of market cap. 

Solana (SOL) is on a Tear

That remarkable surge has seen SOL, the native coin of the Switzerland-based protocol, rise to a record high above $69. The coin is now up over 70% in the past week, proving that the DeFi space remains resilient despite the biggest attack on the industry that happened on Aug 11. 

Solana has dominated the headlines in the crypto world over the past 24 hours, becoming the hottest blockchain of the moment. Per data from crypto behavior and analysis platform Santiment, SOL had seen the second-largest social hype since its market debut 16 months ago. 

https://twitter.com/santimentfeed/status/1427442846173339657

The Ethereum competitor has extended its week-long bullish run, exceeding daily trading volumes of $3.9B on Tuesday. The SOL price has registered exponential gains since the turn of the year, climbing from $1.851 to hit highs above $69 this week, representing gains of a staggering 3100%.

A week ago, SOL was trading around the $38 level. Since then, bulls have pushed the cryptocurrency into the $40 level and further into uncharted territory.

What Makes The Solana Blockchain Unique?

The Solana network has seen wide adoption since it was developed by Anatoly Yakovenko and co-founder Greg Fitzgerald Yakovenko in 2020. The high-speed blockchain has earned the title of Ethereum Killer due to its incredible capacity to process more than 6,000 transactions per second. 

The hybrid blockchain recorded a total transaction volume of $24B this past weekend as it continues to push boundaries and outperform most of its predecessors. 

Like Ethereum, Solana was built to provide a platform for creating dApps that are at the heart of decentralized finance. However, unlike its forerunner, the blockchain has integrated a combination of proof-of-history (PoH) and proof-of-stake (PoS) mechanisms, enabling it to create a fast and highly scalable network with shorter processing times. This innovative approach allows the Solana blockchain to process more transactions in a month than Ethereum has ever done in its lifetime.

Solana-powered Projects Are Blooming

The SOL price rally comes as total value locked on Solana-based DeFi protocols soars to highs of $1.96B. The increasing volume was primarily driven by the fourth-generation blockchain’s AMM and liquidity provider Raydium Protocol, as well as the Serum DEX. 

Meanwhile, Mango Markets, a Solana-powered cross-margin DEX, raised $70M in a recent token sale in one of the most significant infrastructural developments for the Solana ecosystem.