Solana's market cap surpasses $82 billion, outperforming top coins with a significant price increase. SOL now ranks fifth in market cap.
The valuation of Solana soared to a record-breaking high this past Friday evening, as per CoinGecko, with its market capitalization touching above $82 billion. It experienced a minor pullback to around $80.5 billion but has still managed to stay higher than its 2021 highs.
Despite this, the trading price of Solana (SOL) hasn't reached its historic November 2021 zenith of $259.96. The increase in the number of coins currently in circulation, compared to 2021, has elevated its overall market cap to unprecedented levels.
At present, SOL's price stands at $181, marking an almost 9% increase within a 24-hour span and a 21% rise over the last week. Among the top 20 cryptocurrencies, SOL has outperformed all others in the past 24 hours. Moreover, today's price is the highest it has been since December 2021.
Last year saw an unexpected resurgence in interest for Solana. Known for its superior speed and lower transaction costs compared to Ethereum, the blockchain gained significant traction, particularly with the now-defunct crypto conglomerate, FTX, which was a major proponent of Solana and its SOL token. Following FTX's collapse, the value of SOL took a sharp nosedive towards the end of 2022.
Many in the crypto sphere anticipated that the legal troubles of Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced former CEO of FTX, along with the downfall of his cryptocurrency empire, would spell doom for both the token and its underlying network.
Contrary to these expectations, Solana witnessed a resurgence last November due to several factors: its efficiency and cost-effectiveness attracted developers, big names such as Shopify and Visa showed interest in adopting its blockchain technology, and the platform's low transaction fees drew in traders of meme coins.
SOL has ascended to become the fifth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. The recent uptick in interest towards its blockchain coincides with the general bullish trend in the crypto markets, especially with the emergence of new meme tokens like BONK and Dogwifhat.