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Bitcoin ETF Issuer Franklin Templeton Bullish On Solana (SOL), Foresees It As 3rd Largest Crypto

In the wake of the November 2022 crypto market crash, which saw the bankruptcy and collapse of FTX and other firms, Solana (SOL) has emerged as a standout performer, experiencing a year-to-date price increase of over 560%. 

With a market capitalization of $67 billion, Solana has secured its place as the fifth largest cryptocurrency, trailing only Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Binance Coin (BNB), and Tether’s USDT stablecoin.

Despite its substantial growth, asset management giant and Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) issuer Franklin Templeton anticipates further expansion for Solana as the emerging bull market takes shape. 

Solana Poised For Continued Growth

A recent report released by the firm highlights Solana’s strong position to capture the next wave of crypto adoption, solidifying itself as a major crypto asset alongside Bitcoin and Ethereum.

The report emphasizes that Solana’s growth will continue due to several key factors. Notably, the crypto industry witnessed accelerated activity during Q4 2023, with Solana as a focal point for major airdrops within its ecosystem, such as Jito and Pyth. 

According to the report, these airdrops generated a wealth effect of over a billion dollars, driving up the value of SOL and other Solana ecosystem tokens, particularly meme coins. This surge occurred concurrently with Bitcoin’s upward trend, providing additional momentum to the Solana ecosystem.

Since then, meme coins have gained significant attention, with a substantial portion of activity occurring on Solana. The network has witnessed the creation and trading of numerous meme coins, with some attaining multi-billion-dollar market caps, including Bonk (BONK) and Dogwifhat (WIF).

The Crypto Industry’s Next Big Breakthrough?

According to the asset manager, Solana has demonstrated significant growth over the past year, which is evident in the network’s increased total fees and decentralized exchange (DEX) volumes. The network’s low fees, transaction latency, and high data throughput relative to other networks have contributed to its success. 

Solana’s network effects are expected to strengthen further as its performance improves, positioning it to capture upcoming trends in the crypto space.

The future remains uncertain as crypto enthusiasts ponder the next big thing in the industry. However, Franklin Templeton suggests that there is a strong possibility that Solana could play a pivotal role. 

According to the report, the Solana ecosystem anticipates additional airdrops in the coming months, which will continue to enhance the ecosystem’s wealth effect. 

Moreover, meme coin activity shows no signs of slowing down on the Solana network, further adding to the bullish sentiment surrounding the cryptocurrency and its ecosystem.

Solana

SOL is now attempting to consolidate above the $150 level and has seen a significant 21% increase in the last seven days alone. 

Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com 

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Solana Projected To Reach $500 This Year Despite Market Meltdown, Expert Predicts

Solana (SOL), currently ranked as the fifth largest cryptocurrency with a market capitalization of $56 billion, has experienced a significant decline amid the recent market meltdown affecting the digital asset space. 

Over the past 24 hours, SOL has witnessed an 8% drop, reflecting the broader market downturn. Despite this setback, experts believe that if the cryptocurrency maintains support above the $120 price level, it holds notable potential for a strong price recovery in the coming months.

Bullish Price Outlook And Key Support Levels To Watch 

After reaching a yearly high of $209 on March 18, SOL’s current trading price is $124. However, according to crypto market experts, SOL still has a promising outlook. 

Altcoin Sherpa, a renowned analyst, suggests that if the altcoin market continues to decline, the $120 price level may become an area of significant interest for SOL. 

Altcoin Sherpa maintains a bullish sentiment, strongly believing that SOL can potentially exceed $500 this year. Such a surge would represent a significant 300% price increase from current levels, building upon the impressive 426% year-to-date price growth. 

It is worth noting that this projection is nearly double SOL’s previous all-time high (ATH) of $259, reached during the last crypto market bull run in November 2021.

Solana

In addition to the analyst’s focus on the $120 price mark, other major resistance levels for SOL have been identified. These include $110, $102, and the critical long-term support level at $74, representing SOL’s uptrend structure over the past six months. 

Solana Dominates Blockchain Trading Volume

According to a recent CoinGecko report, Solana has secured its position as the second-largest blockchain by trading volume, commanding a substantial 21.3% market share in March 2024. 

The blockchain platform experienced a notable monthly growth of 244.8%, with trading volume surging to $40.05 billion, a significant increase from $11.61 billion in February. 

Solana’s performance in the first quarter of 2024 was equally significant. It accounted for 14.4% of all decentralized exchange (DEX) trading volume, totaling $62.31 billion. 

This represents a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) growth of 242.7% compared to the previous quarter’s volume of $18.18 billion. Despite strong growth, Solana’s market share in the same quarter ranked fourth, trailing behind Binance Smart Chain (BSC).

Solana

According to CoinGecko, Solana’s trading volume has been greatly bolstered by several factors. Firstly, the doubling in the price of Solana’s native token, SOL, has attracted increased attention and trading activity on the platform. 

Additionally, the network has witnessed large airdrops from projects such as Jito (JTO) and Jupiter (JUP), further fueling trading volume. Moreover, the surge in memecoins on the Solana network has significantly contributed to its trading volume. 

Notably, the launch of Book of Memes (BOME) in March proved successful, as it achieved a market capitalization of $1 billion within two days. BOME also secured listings on crypto exchanges like Binance and Bybit, further amplifying trading activity on Solana.

Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com

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Pantera Capital Plans $250M Solana (SOL) Buy, Analyst Predicts Record Rally Toward $1000

Pantera Capital, a prominent crypto-focused asset manager with assets totaling $5.2 billion, has launched a fundraising campaign to purchase discounted Solana (SOL) tokens from the bankrupt estate of crypto exchange FTX. 

According to Bloomberg, the initiative, known as the Pantera Solana Fund, offers investors the opportunity to purchase up to $250 million worth of SOL tokens at a significant discount to the FTX estate.

Solana Token Acquisition Plan

Pantera Capital’s marketing materials, shared with prospective investors in February and reviewed by Bloomberg, outline the opportunity to purchase SOL tokens at a price 39% below the 30-day average or at a fixed price of $59.95. 

However, Bloomberg notes that investors participating in this opportunity must agree to a vesting period of up to four years. This approach reportedly allows FTX liquidators, led by John J. Ray III, to offload SOL tokens gradually, freeing up funds for creditors without exerting immediate downward pressure on the token’s price.

According to Pantera’s pitch document, the FTX estate currently holds approximately 41.1 million SOL tokens, valued at $5.4 billion as of the close of Wednesday’s trading session. This constitutes roughly 10% of the total supply of SOL tokens. 

According to its investor pitch, Pantera aimed to close the fund by the end of February. Although the amount raised by the deadline remains undisclosed, sources familiar with the matter confirmed to Bloomberg that Pantera has secured some funds.

Investors interested in participating in the Pantera Solana Fund must commit a minimum of $25 million. Pantera Capital plans to charge a management fee of 0.75% and a performance cut of 10%.

Apart from its substantial SOL token holdings, FTX and its sister firm, Alameda Research, have invested significantly in startups within Solana’s broader ecosystem. 

According to Bloomberg, FTX’s venture arm, Solana Ventures, and Lightspeed Venture Partners jointly announced a $100 million blockchain gaming fund in November 2021.

Ultimately, the estate’s intention to sell these tokens presents an opportunity to raise funds to repay creditors, considering the notable surge of SOL’s price in the past year. SOL has experienced a staggering 650% increase, trading nearly four times its price when FTX faced its crisis in November 2022.

Crypto Analyst Forecasts SOL To Shatter Previous ATH

SOL, the fifth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, has continued its remarkable upward trajectory and is currently trading at $147.

The token’s price has increased significantly by 14% in the past 24 hours alone, and over the course of 30 days, it has soared by an impressive 56%. 

Despite this uptrend, SOL remains 43% below its previous all-time high (ATH) of $259, achieved in November 2021. However, crypto analyst Altcoin Sherpa believes that SOL will break its previous ATH during this market cycle, with the only uncertainty being the size of the break.

Altcoin Sherpa suggests that reaching $500 is highly probable, and an even more astonishing milestone like $1000 is not entirely out of the question. The analyst further emphasizes its confidence in SOL’s potential, stating that it remains one of their more substantial investments. Altcoin Sherpa also highlights the next significant level to watch for SOL, which is $170.

Solana

Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com 

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Solana On A Roll: Crypto Analyst Predicts Push To $600

Like almost every other crypto token in the market, Solana (SOL) is enjoying a rally of its own, rising to nearly $125 in the last 24 hours. Interestingly, this looks like only the beginning of good things to come for the crypto token, as crypto analyst Hansolar predicts that it could run massively in this bull cycle. 

SOL To Rise To $600

Hansolar mentioned in an X (formerly Twitter) post that SOL will rise to $600. This “fun” target was laid on the premise that SOL could be the new ETH this cycle. Assuming this is the case, the analyst expects SOL to take off later than BTC and ETH. This is because ETH took off when BTC broke into all-time highs (ATHs) during the last bull run. 

Therefore, SOL, following a similar trajectory to ETH in the last cycle, might not take off until BTC and ETH break into ATHs. Hansolar suggested that SOL’s takeoff will be sparked by retail, stating that there will be a time when these investors buy into the crypto token “as the high beta catch-up play.”

Hansolar also offered more evidence to suggest that SOL is likely to replicate ETH’s run in the last bull cycle. He stated that the crypto token was currently at around 50% from its ATH, similar to how ETH was around the 50% mark as BTC was nearing its ATH in the last cycle. Meanwhile, Hansolar offered “fun” targets for Bitcoin and Ethereum, stating they will hit $150,000 and $10,000 in this bull cycle. 

Interestingly, Hansolar’s $600 price prediction for Solana looks very conservative compared to Crypto YouTuber Jake Gagain’s prediction that SOL will hit $750. The analyst stated that the crypto token will hit this price level by next year. 

Between Solana And Ethereum

Crypto analyst Santiago Santos once echoed similar sentiments to Hansolar when he drew a comparison between Solana and Ethereum, noting that the former is going through what the latter did during the ICO boom. He, however, suggested that Solana would perform way better than Ethereum, as it is seeing “meaningful usage and growth,” unlike Ethereum then. 

Santos further asserted that Solana would “converge on Ethereum faster than most believe.” Solana, commonly referred to as the “Ethereum Killer,” has indeed been on the heels of Ethereum as of late. Solana even once surpassed Ethereum in 7-day DEX (decentralized exchange) volume. 

The tremendous rise in Solana’s network activity is believed to be one of the factors driving SOL’s price and what could push it to hit the $600 mark and possibly $750, like Gagain predicted.

At the time of writing, SOL is trading at around $124, up over 13% in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap. 

Solana price chart from Tradingview.com

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Crypto CEO Says Get Ready For Solana To ‘Rally Higher Again’ With New Target

Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Evai Crypto Ratings, Matthew Dixon, has expressed optimism about the Solana future price outlook, projecting a new bullish target for the cryptocurrency. 

CEO Predicts Bullish Outlook For Solana

In a recent post on X (formerly Twitter), Dixon shared a Solana and USD pair price chart originally published on TradingView, a crypto analysis platform. The crypto CEO indicated that the ongoing price correction for Solana, identified as “wave 4 (blue)” on the price chart, has not concluded and is expected to experience further declines. 

He predicted that the ongoing wave 4 (blue) would reach a price level similar to Solana’s previous price correction, albeit to a lesser degree. The Evai CEO also anticipates that after the conclusion of the recent correction, Solana may experience a price rally once again.

Previously, Solana witnessed a major surge, nearly surpassing the $125 threshold. However, the cryptocurrency lost a substantial portion of its gains as the bullish hype faded, eventually settling below the $100 price mark at some point. 

Additionally, on Tuesday, February 6, the Solana blockchain was temporarily halted due to an outage, resulting in no new blocks being produced for over 25 minutes. This unexpected disruption significantly impacted the overall sentiment of the cryptocurrency, causing slight declines in the price of SOL. Following this, a solution was coordinated among validators, and the network officially resumed operations. 

Presenting another price chart for Solana, Dixon has projected a new upside target of $120 for the cryptocurrency. The crypto CEO has stated that despite the recent blackout, Solana has maintained both short-term and long-term positive prospects. Nonetheless, investors are advised to anticipate a potential mid-term price correction for the cryptocurrency. 

SOL Price Surges Above $100 Mark

Reports from Santiment, a global market intelligence platform, have also indicated a bullish outlook for Solana. Earlier on Thursday, the crypto data platform disclosed on X that Solana is currently dominating the altcoin market and has become one of the few cryptocurrencies outperforming Bitcoin. 

Santiment shared a price chart illustrating Solana’s recent price action, showcasing a robust climb over the past few days. According to their data, in the last 36 hours, Solana’s price relative to Bitcoin has increased by over 4.5%. 

The cryptocurrency market intelligence platform disclosed that the outage earlier this week has instigated “Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt” (FUD) amongst investors, contributing to the current price rebound in Solana. 

Solana rallied by almost 5% in the last day, and at the time of writing, the cryptocurrency is trading at a price of $105.46, reflecting a weekly increase of 4.39%, according to CoinMarketCap. 

Solana price chart from Tradingview.com