Solana Eyes $500 Amid ETF Optimism, While New Projects Like Crypto All-Stars Gain Traction in the Bull Market

Solana continues to make new highs, showing immense strength this month. And with the volume of its decentralized exchanges pushing higher, it seems nothing can stop SOL’s ascent.

Solana eyes $500 amid ETF optimism, while new projects like Crypto All-Stars gain traction in the bull market.

Solana continues to make new highs, showing immense strength this month. And with the volume of its decentralized exchanges pushing higher, it seems nothing can stop SOL’s ascent.

The Solana cryptocurrency has a price target of $500 by the end of 2024, enabled by its increased transactional capabilities over its main rival, Ethereum. From a technical analysis standpoint, SOL has broken a key level, giving a near-term target of $291.

That’s well beyond its current all-time high (ATH) of $259. This breakout could catalyze a near-2x gain towards $500; even if it falls short, a price between $350 and $400 is within reach.

Solana’s largest decentralized exchange, Raydium, is outpacing Ethereum’s Uniswap in 24-hour trading volume. Earlier this week, it was processing almost twice as much money. Today, it’s still facilitating more, with a 16.2% market share, compared to Uniswap’s 14.6%.

Solana meme coins are surging, Pump.fun ecosystem hits $8.4b

The Solana meme coin market is rapidly growing in value, and it’s thanks to Pump.fun, a Solana-based meme coin generator that lets users spin up a token without coding.

Today, Pump-fun tokens are worth a combined $8.4 billion, and they’ve amassed an impressive 24-hour trading volume of $4.6 billion, showing that all eyes are on this market.

Peanut the Squirrel is leading the way among Pump-fun tokens, soaring by 203% in the past week and 3,951% since CoinGecko started tracking its data.

Yet investors who bought when it first listed on Pump.fun will have seen even more gains. Pump-fun tokens with a market cap of $69k automatically get listed on Raydium with $12k liquidity.

While many tokens don’t make it to $69k, some of the ones that do provide a massive opportunity for gains.

Moving away from Pump-fun tokens, Bonk is back leading Solana after doubling in price this week. It now holds a $3.7 billion market cap and a $4.5 billion 24-hour trading volume.

Robinhood and Coinbase lift SOL price

Solana enjoyed a nice pump over the weekend, fueled by growing support among top crypto exchanges. Robinhood relisted a handful of tokens, including SOL – but it’s no longer concerned about allegations that these tokens are unregistered securities.

Meanwhile, Coinbase launched its COIN50 index, which helps institutions track the crypto market. The index is available for trading outside of the US, UK, and Canada.

Solana holds a 6.4% weight in the index, while its actual market cap represents under 4%. Put differently, investors would have to buy more than the market cap weight of SOL if they buy the index.

Institutions are coming to SOL, ETFs are the next step

Institutional interest in Solana is rising as asset managers recalibrate their portfolios to place cryptocurrencies inside the 5% portion that is usually reserved for alternative assets.

“The next wave of crypto adoption likely won’t be driven by crypto-native individuals, but by mainstream investors who prefer to access digital assets through their existing wealth management and financial adviser relationships,” Anchorage Digital CEO and co-founder Nathan McCauley told the Washington Post last week.

Alongside Bitcoin and Ethereum, Solana is a top pick for institutions this year. But entities that aren’t seeking to hold SOL directly can invest in SOL Strategies, a publicly traded company that invests in Solana and its ecosystem. 

I am still adding in CYFRF https://t.co/6X18PZx45V

As the US regulatory landscape becomes more clear, the likelihood of Solana ETFs being approved is also rising. Asset manager VanEck started the Solana ETF race with an application filed on 27 June.

Expectations that Solana ETFs will be passed soared substantially after Trump’s win. 

VanEck's @matthew_sigel…"I think the odds are overwhelmingly high that there will be a solana ETF trading by the end of next year."via @SteveJohnson000 pic.twitter.com/EtMRgLL3Js

Solana’s development and adoption continue to grow

The past month has been a big one for the Solana ecosystem. Here’s some of the notable events driving its bullish price action:

Solana’s Radar Hackathon drew over 10,000 participants, showcasing the huge developer network that the ecosystem has on tap.

Meanwhile, an on-chain analysis