Key takeaways:
Investments from corporate treasuries are fueling sustained demand and enhancing SOL’s price trajectory.
The dominance of DEX, growth in fees, and upgrades in interoperability solidify Solana’s position in the competitive blockchain landscape.
Solana’s native token, SOL (SOL), encountered a significant decline after reaching the $250 level on Sunday. Despite the pullback, SOL has risen 24% over the past 30 days, thanks to increased onchain activity.
Traders are now pondering if the current momentum could elevate SOL towards $300, especially as the Solana network has regained its position as a leader in decentralized exchange (DEX) volumes.
In September, Solana outpaced Ethereum to emerge as the leading blockchain for DEX trading, processing $121.8 billion in monthly volumes—approximately 90% more than its nearest competitor, BNB Chain. Achieving this leadership is crucial as heightened volumes generate more fees, resulting in a recurring demand for SOL to facilitate those transactions.
Nansen data indicates a 23% increase in Solana fees over the past week. This rise is significant, given Ethereum’s nearly sevenfold advantage in total value locked (TVL). However, ETH holders benefit little from this upon realizing that numerous decentralized applications, such as restaking and real-world assets (RWA), exhibit low activity and weak fee generation.
Corporate treasury allocations accelerate demand for SOL
Recent activities in corporate treasury have spurred demand for SOL. Some firms are raising capital through stock or debt offerings, directing those proceeds towards cryptocurrency investments. A case in point is Forward Industries (FORD), a former medical and technology design company, which raised $1.65 billion in private funding to purchase SOL for its reserves.
Forward Industries secured funding from Galaxy Digital (GLXY), Jump Crypto—acting as both a market maker and venture capital fund—and Multicoin Capital, recognized for early investments in Helium (HNT), Filecoin (FIL), Solana, and Polkadot (DOT). Separately, a DeFi-focused treasury firm, DeFi Development Corp, disclosed its holdings exceeding 2 million SOL, valued at over $460 million.
Pantera Capital, a prominent blockchain asset manager, announced the launch of a new Solana-backed treasury vehicle, being Nasdaq-listed Helius (HSDT). The $500 million initial private placement was co-led by the Hong Kong-licensed investment firm Summer Capital and could potentially exceed $1 billion, according to the press release.
Related: Bitcoin and Solana ETPs drive a $3.3B crypto inflow rebound: CoinShares
Another potential boost for SOL stems from a suggested open-source bridge between Solana and Base, an Ethereum layer-2 developed by Coinbase. Base has accumulated over 20 million active addresses in a 30-day period, per Nansen. The bridge would facilitate asset transfers across chains, forming what Base creator Jesse Pollak called a more “interoperable and connected” ecosystem.
The Trump-backed crypto initiative World Liberty Financial (WLFI) also announced a partnership with Solana’s memecoin platform Bonk.fun and the Raydium DEX on Monday, aiming to fund “multimillion-dollar promotional rewards.” This initiative focuses on USD1 stablecoin pairs, with WLFI’s token said to be fully backed by US dollars and cash equivalents.
Given Solana’s growing onchain activity, the accumulation of SOL by treasury-oriented firms, and the visibility from the Base bridge and WLFI campaign, traders foresee conditions ripe for further appreciation. A surge to $300 would set Solana’s market capitalization at $163 billion, still reflecting a 70% discount to Ether’s $543 billion valuation, making this scenario plausible in the imminent future.
This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.
