While many investors’ attention is focused on Bitcoin (BTC), a remarkable development is taking place in the background with Solana (SOL). On March 24, the SOL price rose by 8.5%, breaking through the $142 mark for the first time in two weeks.
This upswing is not only due to the positive market sentiment but is also driven by specific developments in the Solana ecosystem that are attracting increasing interest.
Solanas network activity increases
An interesting point is that Solana currently generates more transaction fees than Ethereum’s base layer. On March 23, over $1 million in fees were collected, compared to a modest $350,000 for Ethereum. This is especially notable given that Solana recently suffered a drastic 93% drop in network fees.
However, this downward trend appears to have stopped. Platforms such as Jupiter DEX, Kamino, and the liquid staking protocol Jito are generating renewed interest. The total value locked in Solana’s smart contracts has now risen to $6.8 billion, surpassing the BNB Chain at $5.4 billion.
The renewed buying interest in Solana coincides with a broader recovery in the crypto market. Investors are once again showing interest in riskier assets, including memecoins. An additional boost came after Donald Trump commented on his own TRUMP memecoin in a social media post, triggering a domino effect. Within the Solana ecosystem, Fartcoin (FART), WIF , and PEPE each saw double-digit gains.
This combination of political influence and the comeback of memecoins continues to drive trading activity on Solana. The network also remains attractive thanks to a staking yield of 7.7%, which is currently well above the inflation rate.
Growing trust among professional traders
Also notable is the increasing activity of large traders on exchanges like Binance. The long-to-short ratio on Solana reached 2.4 on March 23—its highest level in over two months. This indicates confidence in further price gains, possibly fueled by speculation about a Solana spot ETF.
According to VanEck’s head of digital research, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission could make a decision on such an ETF before the end of this year. If this happens, it could further stimulate institutional interest—further strengthening Solana’s position among the major blockchains.
At the time of writing, Solana’s price is $142.60, up 14.7% over the past seven days. Trading volume has increased by an impressive 63.5% to $3.84 billion over the past 24 hours.
