Solana Market Cap Surpasses $100 Billion, Setting Up SOL For Potential ATH Rally

Solana (SOL) recently saw its market cap surge past $100 billion, setting the stage for a potential all-time high (ATH) rally for its native SOL token.

Solana, currently the cryptocurrency with the fourth-largest market cap, recently joined the ranks of Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Tether (USDT) by surpassing the $100 billion mark in market valuation.

At the time of writing, Solana’s native token SOL is trading at $216.43, marking impressive weekly gains of 32.6%. In comparison, Bitcoin has gained 19.6% and Ethereum 29.7% over the same period.

To recall, SOL’s current ATH of $259.96 was recorded in November 2021, at the peak of the crypto bull market, buoyed by monetary easing as a measure to tackle the coronavirus pandemic. 

However, this upward momentum changed sharply for SOL at the height of the FTX crisis, with its price plummeting to a low of $8.68 in November 2022. SOL’s current market price thus reflects an almost 40x increase from these lows.

Despite this substantial recovery, analysts believe there is still more room for SOL to rally, potentially setting a new ATH in its current price surge.

Providing commentary on SOL’s recent price action, Julien Bittel, Head of Macro Research at Global Macro Investor, shared his analysis, saying that the SOL/BTC trading pair has broken out of an 8-month sideways consolidation channel, potentially moving toward the “banana zone” in Q4 2024.

For the uninitiated, the “banana zone” in trading terms refers to a phase where the underlying asset may witness an explosive, parabolic price appreciation, leading to extraordinary gains in a short period.

This breakout has positioned SOL for either an inverse head-and-shoulders pattern on the daily chart or a cup-and-handle pattern on the weekly chart, both incredibly bullish patterns for the altcoin.

Another crypto trader, Bob Loukas, shared his outlook on X, stating that he wouldn’t be surprised to see SOL reaching a new ATH “within 14 days.” Loukas hinted that SOL could “get silly” in 2025, suggesting the potential for abnormal gains shortly.

As BTC continues establishing new ATHs beyond $80,000, the wider crypto market appears to follow the leading asset’s price momentum. 

Among major altcoins, SOL has piqued the interest of several crypto analysts due to its potential to “flip” Ethereum’s market cap and become the leading smart contract platform.

In related news, Solana’s decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem’s total-value-locked (TVL) rose to $5.7 billion during Q3 2024, signifying a 26% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) growth.

Some analysts are wary of SOL’s current price action, suggesting that the token might be headed for a sharp correction before further upside movement. BTC trades at $82,251 at press time, up 3.5% in the past 24 hours.