Solana’s SOL saw a sharp decline, slipping by 10% below $100 in the first week of the new year, a stark contrast to its recent peak at $115 on January 2.
However, Solana’s ecosystem remains robust, marked by increased transaction volumes and a growing influence in the stablecoin arena.
SOL’s Price Dips Last year, Solana surged impressively, spiking nearly 1,000% in value, particularly thriving in DeFi and network activity towards the year’s end.
Expectations were high for continued growth this year, indicated by SOL’s climb from $103 on December 31 to $115 on January 2. But reports hinting at a possible rejection of spot Bitcoin ETF applications by the US SEC on January 3 triggered a correction. Since then, SOL has seen a drop to $85.4 before slightly recovering to $90,7 at present.
This decline mirrors a broader trend affecting top cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, XRP, and Cardano, which saw respective decreases of 3%, 9%, and 14%.
Solana Network Flourishes Despite SOL’s price fluctuations, the Solana network is bustling with activity. Daily transaction volumes skyrocketed to over $40 billion, the highest since October 2022.
The surge in Solana’s transactions largely comes from meme coin trading, particularly meme coins like BONK and WIF, capturing the crypto community’s interest with their strong price performance.
Additionally, Solana is establishing itself as a key player in stablecoin transactions due to its lower fees. Notably, Solana-based USDC transfers surpassed USDT on the TRON blockchain by over 40 billion as of January 1.
