Solana (SOL) continues its remarkable upward trajectory, now trading at over $50 per coin. The cryptocurrency, currently ranking as the seventh largest by market capitalization, is experiencing such significant growth that it is rapidly approaching USDC in terms of market cap. At present, USDC boasts a market capitalization of $23.9 billion, while SOL has seen an increase of over $3 billion in market cap in just the past day, reaching $21 billion, according to CoinGecko.
As of the time of writing, SOL is priced at $50.61, marking an impressive nearly 9% increase in the past 24 hours and a substantial 24% surge over the past week.
Taking a closer look at SOL's performance over the last 30 days, it has gained a remarkable 127%, making it stand out as the cryptocurrency with the most substantial value increase during this period when compared to other major digital assets.
Experts interviewed by Decrypt in recent weeks have discussed SOL's resurgence, attributing it to a combination of factors, including interest from major players and short sellers. Previously, SOL faced adversity following the collapse of the FTX megabrand exchange and its affiliated companies, as FTX had been a significant investor in SOL and had even launched a marketplace for Solana NFTs. The bankruptcy of FTX in November had a detrimental impact on SOL's price.
However, the Solana blockchain gained favor among prominent entities such as payments giant Visa and e-commerce platform Shopify due to its reputation for speed and cost-efficiency compared to rivals like Ethereum.
Moreover, SOL garnered attention during the criminal trial of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, which briefly affected its price. Increased short-selling activity temporarily hindered SOL's performance.
Notwithstanding its recent growth, SOL is still trading more than 80% below its all-time high of $259, which was achieved in November 2021.
The broader cryptocurrency market is also performing well on a weekly basis, with all major coins and tokens experiencing gains over the past seven days. Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, reached an 18-month high recently due to news of potential approval by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a spot crypto exchange-traded fund for American investors.
Additionally, other altcoins like Tron (TRX) and Optimism (OP) have demonstrated strong performance, recording gains of nearly 5% and 3%, respectively.
