Solana Rises 36% from Bottom - Will $180 Be SOL's Next Stop?

! Solana (SOL) failed to sustain its momentum after reaching $134 on April 14, but a series of data points suggest that the altcoin's bull run is not over yet.

SOL is now down 57% from its ATH levels, partly due to a sharp drop in DApps activity, but according to some analysts, the surge in deposits on the Solana network is a catalyst for near-term growth.

! Blockchain ranking by total value of assets locked (TVL), USD | Source: DefiLlamaSolana has established itself as the second largest blockchain according to TVL, with $6.9 billion. After rising 12% in the 7 days ending April 16, Solana has moved ahead of competitors such as Tron, Base, and Berachain.

Positive signs include a 30% increase in deposits on the Sanctum liquidity staking app; 20% growth on Jito and Jupiter.

Solana's DEX volume surpasses Ethereum layer-2

Solana's TVL is unlikely to catch up with the Ethereum layer-2 ecosystem. However, Solana is in a strong position in terms of trading volume on decentralized exchanges (DEX).

For instance, in the 7 days ending April 16, trading activity on Solana DApps totaled $15.8 billion, which is more than 50% more than the total volume of Ethereum scaling solutions in the same period.

! Blockchain ranking by volume DEX for 7 days, USD | Source: DefiLlamaSolana has regained the top spot in DEX activity, overtaking Ethereum after rising 16% in seven days. This was supported by a 44% increase in volume on Pump-fun and a 28% increase on Raydium.

In contrast, volumes on the three largest Ethereum DApps, Uniswap, Fluid, and Curve Finance, recorded signs of decline. The same trend happened on BNB Chain, where PancakeSwap, Four-Meme, and DODO saw trading volumes drop compared to last week.

It wouldn't be fair to measure Solana's growth only through DEX performance, as other DApps handle much smaller volumes. For instance, Ondo Finance tokenized a total of $250 million in assets on the Solana network. Meanwhile, Exponent, the yield farming protocol, has doubled its TVL in the past 30 days. Likewise, yield aggregator platform Synatra saw a 43% increase in TVL for the week.

! Synatra DApp screenshot | Analysts are confident that the spot Solana ETF will be approved in the United States in 2025. However, expectations of capital inflows are limited due to the general lack of interest from institutional investors and the recent poor performance of Ethereum ETF instruments.

If the spot ETF is approved, it could strengthen Solana's presence, especially as the U.S. government's Digital Asset Reserve plan becomes a reality.

Investors are eagerly awaiting a full audit of crypto holdings held by U.S. federal agencies, which was originally scheduled for April 7. However, some journalists claim that the decree signed on March 7 does not require the matter to be made public.

Regardless of whether SOL appears on the reserve list or not, there are currently no plans from the government to buy back cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin (BTC).

Currently, there are few catalysts for a rally above $180. Without external factors such as the large influx of new investors entering the crypto ecosystem, the increase in TVL and DEX market share alone is unlikely to drive the SOL price to outperform the overall market.

You can see SOL pricing here.

Disclaimer:** The article is for informational purposes only, not investment advice. Investors should research carefully before making a decision. We are not responsible for your investment decisions.*

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Viet Cuong

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