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BTC $96,420 +2.34% ETH $3,280 +1.82% SOL $185.40 -0.92% BNB $642.50 +0.45% XRP $2.18 +3.12% DOGE $0.082 -1.50% ADA $1.05 +0.80% AVAX $42.10 +1.15%
BTC $96,420 +2.34% ETH $3,280 +1.82% SOL $185.40 -0.92% BNB $642.50 +0.45% XRP $2.18 +3.12% DOGE $0.082 -1.50% ADA $1.05 +0.80% AVAX $42.10 +1.15%
11/22/2024

Solana Hits All-Time High — The "Meme Chain King" Could Become the Third Bitcoin Spot ETF

Solana (SOL) surged to a historic high, leaving Ethereum in the dust. Around 11 AM today, SOL blew past $260, setting a new all-time high. Solana's current market cap has exceeded $122.5 billion, making it the second public blockchain after Ethereum to join the $100B market cap club. Led by SOL's rally, projects across the ecosystem saw significant gains as well. Staking protocol JTO surged over 24%, now trading at $3.4. DEX protocol RAY climbed more than 12%, h

Solana Hits All-Time High — The "Meme Chain King" Could Become the Third Bitcoin Spot ETF

Solana (SOL) surged to a historic high, leaving Ethereum in the dust. Around 11 AM today, SOL blew past $260, setting a new all-time high. Solana's current market cap has exceeded $122.5 billion, making it the second public blockchain after Ethereum to join the $100B market cap club.

Led by SOL's rally, projects across the ecosystem saw significant gains as well. Staking protocol JTO surged over 24%, now trading at $3.4. DEX protocol RAY climbed more than 12%, now at $6.2, while JUP rose over 7% to $1.1.

From its bear market bottom of $8, SOL has steadily climbed to its current level — a return of over 30x. So what's been driving SOL's explosive growth?

On-Chain Data Performance

Solana has carved out its own lane, with standout projects across AI, DeFi, and staking — and its overall on-chain metrics are pretty impressive.

According to Solscan data, Solana's TPS (transactions per second) hovers around 3,000, with network performance remaining stable.

Another key metric — active wallet count — is equally strong. Despite a slight dip since mid-year, Solana's active wallet numbers have held up well. In fact, active wallets have shot up from 1 million to a peak of 8.8 million.

After a period of lower activity, Solana bounced back quickly, and new account creation has now surpassed 20 million.

The Meme Wave

"Not playing on Solana's meme chain is like missing out on DeFi last cycle."

It's fair to say that the meme wave driving this bull market is primarily happening on Solana, generating countless wealth-effect moments and meme projects. As the native token used to buy memes, demand for SOL has been indirectly fueled by meme mania — pushing its price higher.

On-chain data shows that since September, the number of priority transactions has jumped from roughly 3,000 to 55,000 — a 15x increase. This spike reflects just how enthusiastic investors have been about memes on Solana.

Currently, according to CoinMarketCap data, meme projects with a market cap above $1 billion include BONK, WIF, POPCAT, and PUNT, while projects in the $100M–$1B range include GOAT, MEW, BOME, ACT, LUCE, ai16Z, MICHI, and others. These projects are outperforming both Ethereum and competing chains like Base.

A Solana Spot ETF Could Get Approved

After Ethereum's spot Bitcoin ETF was approved earlier this year, many investors are now hoping Solana gets its own spot ETF. Back in August, the SEC rejected Cboe's application for a Solana spot ETF, putting the approval process on hold.

However, on November 21, Fox Business reporter Eleanor Terrett reported — citing two inside sources — that talks between SEC staff and issuers looking to launch a SOL spot ETF have made meaningful progress. The SEC is now processing S-1 filings for a SOL spot ETF. Sources say it's "very likely" that exchange representatives will file some 19b-4 forms in the coming days, which is the next step in the ETF approval process.

With crypto-friendly Trump set to take office, previously strict regulations could soon loosen up. On November 22, U.S. officials confirmed that SEC Chair Gary Gensler will officially step down on January 20 — the same day as Trump's inauguration.

Worth noting: Chris Giancarlo — known as the "Crypto Dad" — is currently the frontrunner for the new SEC Chair position. Trump's transition team is considering appointing him to the role. Giancarlo is a former CFTC Chairman and one of the co-founders of the Digital Dollar Project. He has deep expertise in Web3 and crypto, and has been involved in numerous discussions around digital assets, Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), and stablecoins — consistently emphasizing the importance of these emerging financial technologies.

Bloomberg's senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas had this to say: "A change in U.S. presidential and SEC leadership could make a lot of things possible in 2025."

How High Can Solana Go?

Trader Eugene: SOL price target $500–$1,000

At the end of September, top trader Eugene Ng Ah Sio posted on social media that the second phase of the current bull market had begun, and it was time to set targets. The final price of a bull market is always hard to call, so he gave a range for end-of-cycle levels based on the assumption of a "Trump win and U.S. soft landing." His specific price targets:

  • BTC: $100,000 – $200,000;
  • ETH: $4,000 – $6,000;
  • SOL: $500 – $1,000;
  • Total crypto market cap: $5 trillion – $10 trillion.

VanEck: Bullish on SOL, Target $330

U.S. asset management giant VanEck has also expressed optimism about Solana. In a report dated September 25, VanEck projected that Solana's price would reach $330 this cycle, hitting 50% of Ethereum's market cap at that point in time.