Solana Nears 100 Billion Transaction Milestone As Price Aims For $40

Solana has made a name for itself in the decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible token (NFT) space over the last few years. Its growth has seen it become one of the largest contenders for the leading smart contract network Ethereum, as it presents faster and cheaper transaction options. Its transaction count had quickly multiplied in light of this, and now, the cryptocurrency has neared another important milestone.

With only two years of operations under its belt, Solana has quickly grown in prominence among crypto investors. With an average of 3,000 transactions per second (TPS), the total transaction count on the Solana blockchain is like a runner on steroids.

Presently, the total transaction count on the network has surpassed 97.1 billion. This was the count as of Friday when this report was written. Given that the number was around 96 billion on Thursday, Solana’s transaction count is growing at around 1 billion per day. This rate would see the network hit the 100 billion mark before the weekend is over. 

To put this in perspective, the current daily transaction count on the Ethereum network is a little over 1 million at 13 TPS. The upgrade to ETH proof of stake will reportedly allow Ethereum to process 100,000 TPS, but for now, it continues to lag behind competitors such as Solana in terms of speed and capacity. 

Over the last day, digital assets across the cryptocurrency market have seen some impressive gains. Solana grew more than 7% in this 24-hour period to bring its price above $35, but even this point does not look to be the highest for the cryptocurrency.

Since SOL is now sitting above its 20-day moving average, the selling pressure in the short term has begun to ease up, giving the digital asset room to establish support at $35 and target the $40 level from this point. 

Solana’s growth in other aspects besides its transaction count is also working to prop up its price. Most notably, the growth of NFT trading on the blockchain. Magic Eden, the leading NFT marketplace on Solana, is fast catching up to OpenSea. 

In the last 7 days, OpenSea saw a total of 149,488 unique traders, where Magic Eden saw 101,349 unique traders. The popularity of collections, such as Okay Bears, DeGods, and now Yoots, has also helped to increase the popularity of the blockchain and bring new demand to the market. 

This demand for the digital asset for trading activities has been the biggest driver of its recovery. If the momentum holds up, then SOL is likely to test $40 before the weekend is over.

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