Solana Chasing BNB Chain, Race To 5% Market Dominance Heats Up

The dominance war is on. CoinMarketCap data shows that Solana and BNB Chain, two popular smart contracts platforms after Ethereum, are emerging as strong contenders.

In a post on X, one crypto analyst notes that SOL and BNB, the native currencies of Solana and BNB Chain, respectively, have been growing, subsequently expanding the market caps of their respective platforms. However, even with this price uptick, it has yet to attain the 5% level, a target for proponents of the two platforms. 

When the analyst shared the screenshot on March 14, BNB Chain, powered by Binance Coin (BNB), held a slight lead with a 3.34% dominance, while Solana trailed behind at 2.72%. 

However, Solana has been on a tear. Not only is the coin outperforming Bitcoin and Ethereum, but it has been expanding rapidly, faster than BNB in the past few trading weeks. When writing, CoinMarketCap data shows that SOL is trading above $170, a multi-month high.

Moreover, it is up 11% on the last trading day and 20% in the previous trading week. At this valuation, SOL’s market cap is up 12% to over $75 billion, cementing its position at fifth, trailing BNB.

On the other hand, BNB remains at fourth, behind USDT–the most liquid stablecoin whose market cap stands at over $103 billion. BNB is up 2% the previous day but double digits in the past week of trading. Overall, the lack of inactivity, especially on the last trading day, means its total market cap, at over $90 billion, is stable, only adding 2% on the last day.

When comparing the performances of Solana and BNB, the former has the upper hand. For example, from September 2023, SOL gained over 200% versus BNB. BNB pared losses from January, but the revival in Solana, considering the success of meme coins, means SOL might extend gains in the future. 

As the competition intensifies, the future remains uncertain. It’s unclear whether SOL will overtake BNB to claim the second most dominant smart contract spot after Ethereum.

However, at the time of writing, what’s certain is that the spike in on-chain activity on Solana and the unfolding events around the FTX bankruptcy case could bolster SOL prices. Therefore, it’s highly probable that Solana’s dominance might catch up with BNB as the race to the 5% level intensifies. 

In November 2023, Binance settled with United States regulators, including the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), agreeing to pay a $4.3 billion fine. As part of the deal, their co-founder, Changpeng Zhao, also had to resign as CEO. While BNB prices initially plunged, the token recovered steadily from the $300 level.