Pantera Capital's intention to purchase SOL tokens worth $250 million from the bankrupt FTX exchange, along with the price rally of "meme" coins, has influenced the recent surge in the price of Solana (SOL). The price of SOL approached $150, reaching its highest point since January 2022. Several factors contributed to this positive momentum, including the bankruptcy of FTX and the rally of meme coins.

As per CoinGecko data, SOL is currently trading at $145, marking a 4.4% increase over the last 24 hours and a significant 42% surge over the past two weeks. The peak value within 24 hours reached $149.2, reminiscent of levels seen at the beginning of January 2022 when SOL experienced a decline following FTX's collapse.

Despite this recent surge, the current price remains 44% below the historical high of $259 reached in November 2021. Additionally, according to DefiLlama, the total value locked (TVL) in Solana protocols has surpassed $3 billion, setting a new record for 2022.

Pantera Capital's announcement of their interest in acquiring SOL tokens from FTX has further propelled SOL's price, with the cryptocurrency surpassing the critical $142 mark. However, the significant bullish momentum can be attributed to various other factors as well.

The surge in meme coins has also contributed to the cryptocurrency market frenzy, with dogwifhat (WIF) emerging as one of the top gainers on Solana. Over the past two weeks, the price of WIF has skyrocketed by over 500%, reaching an all-time high of $2.18 on March 6. Additionally, a new group of meme coins, created in honor of prominent personalities, has also led the trading volume and performance this week.

Beyond meme coins, tokens like Jupiter (JUP) and Raydium (RAY) have witnessed substantial price increases, with JUP rising by 51% and RAY by 38% over the past two weeks. Moreover, SOL's continued interest is fueled by upcoming token distributions from projects such as Wormhole, Kamino, Parcl, and MarginFi, anticipated by members of the crypto community.