Solana has experienced a significant surge over the past week, with tokens issued on its blockchain reaching new highs.
On Monday morning, the crypto markets remained steady following a strong performance last week, which was driven by positive ETF inflows and favorable macroeconomic indicators. Solana stood out as network metrics soared.
Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $67,698, up 1.5% in the last 24 hours. Ether (ETH) has risen 2% to $3,125, while Solana (SOL) jumped nearly 6%, according to CoinGecko data. Investors are cautious after a strong week influenced by macroeconomic developments, according to Ryze Labs.
April’s U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) was cooler than expected, at 0.3% month-on-month compared to the 0.4% forecasted. This slower inflation rate has eased concerns about a potential rate hike, allowing Federal Reserve Chair Powell to consider a rate cut in the coming months.
Michael Van de Poppe, CEO of MN Trading, expects Bitcoin to remain within its current range with minimal volatility. He anticipates consolidation and slow upward movements towards the all-time high, with altcoins likely outperforming in the meantime.
Data from CryptoQuant shows that exchange BTC reserves have dropped significantly to 1,929,696 BTC as of May 19, a more than 50% decrease from July 2021. This suggests a reduction in Bitcoin’s liquid supply as investors move their holdings off exchanges for long-term storage.
Solana, however, has seen the most significant gains among blockchains with market capitalizations over $1 billion, driven by a meme coin craze. Over 20,000 tokens are being created on Solana daily, according to Step Finance data.
Bitcoin Rally
Markus Thielen, head of research at 10x Research, believes Bitcoin could rally if it breaks the resistance level of $67,500. He noted, “A breakthrough above $67,500 could potentially lead to new all-time highs, as predicted by our Bitcoin ETF model.”
CoinGlass data shows that in the past 24 hours, 48,218 traders were liquidated, with total liquidations amounting to $108.08 million. The largest single liquidation order occurred on OKX, involving an ETH-USD swap valued at $2.91 million.
Leadership Change at Grayscale
Michael Sonnenshein is stepping down as CEO of Grayscale Investments LLC. He will be succeeded by Peter Mintzberg, a former Goldman Sachs executive, effective August 15.
Crypto Stocks Surge
Crypto stocks saw gains on Monday. Coinbase rose 0.45%, and MicroStrategy increased by 0.98%, reaching $1,600 a share.
U.S. stocks showed little change, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.1%. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite added 0.3% and 0.7%, respectively.
Investors are awaiting the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s April 30 to May 1 meeting, due on May 22.
