Airdrop imminent, Solana breaks $200

Solana (SOL) briefly topped the $200 mark on Sunday night, reaching that threshold for only the second time since 2021. This comes after trading volumes on the Solana decentralized exchange (DEX) recently exceeded those observed on the Ethereum (ETH) DEX.

The rally was short-lived, with the cryptocurrency falling back to around $190 on Monday. To hit a new all-time high, Solana would need to climb to around $260, according to CoinGecko.

After months of stagnation following the FTX crash, there has been a resurgence of interest in the Solana ecosystem, driven by airdrops and memecoin speculation. Cross-chain messaging protocol Wormhole will release its W token, with part of the supply unlocked on the Solana blockchain. This anticipated airdrop prompted an increase in network activity.

Airdrop allocation mining plays a role in the stable development of the Solana DeFi ecosystem. According to DeFiLlama, the total value locked in the Solana DeFi protocol has been trending upward since mid-November and is currently around $4.6 billion.

According to data from Blockworks Research, Solana’s stablecoin trading volume has also increased significantly, with more than $100 billion in USDT and USDC transfers processed on multiple days last week.

Memecoin has become the latest trend in the Solana ecosystem, with platforms like DEX Screener enabling users to speculate on new tokens like Slerf. The phenomenon has sparked a debate within the crypto community, with influential figures such as Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin weighing in on the purpose and potential of memecoins.

Institutional interest in Solana rises

Institutional interest in Solana is also growing. The market price of Grayscale’s Solana Trust (GSOL) has climbed for a third consecutive week, with the net asset value per share approaching the highest point since the product began trading in April 2023.

Grayscale has also included Solana in its recently launched staking fund, which aims to optimize staking rewards for investors. Other companies, such as 21Shares and VanEck, offer exchange-traded products with access to the Solana ecosystem.