Solana Hits Fresh All-Time High as Investors Place Bullish Bets

The leading cryptocurrencies are trading in the green today, including Ethereum rival blockchain Solana. The Solana price is up just over 1% in the last 24 hours and has seen its value balloon by more than 25% over the last week. The Solana price set a fresh all-time high this weekend of $260.06, leaving some investors to speculate whether it is on its way to overtaking rival cryptocurrency Ethereum.

Solana is currently the fourth-biggest cryptocurrency with a market cap of $76 billion. And while it is inching closer to Ethereum, it is still far away considering Ethereum’s grip on the No. 2 spot in the crypto rankings with a market value of $544 billion.

Solana investors are hoping for a day when SOL will surpass Ethereum as the go-to platform for smart contracts and muscle its competitor out of the No. 2 position. Crypto quant trader and analyst Benjamin Cowen, who has 370,000 followers on Twitter, has given those investors a reality check, predicting in no uncertain terms that “Solana will not flip Ethereum” in the rankings.

I'm going to say it.#Solana will not flip #Ethereum

— Benjamin Cowen (@intocryptoverse) November 7, 2021

Ethereum is not Solana’s only competition. Value investor Mike Alfred shared on Twitter that a large RIA firm has recently exited all of its Cardano position and half of its Solana holdings in favor of leading cryptocurrency bitcoin. Alfred predicts that others will follow in their footsteps.

In recent days, Solana overtook Cardano on the cryptocurrency leaderboard in what has been an impressive week for the decentralized blockchain that is known for its speed and scalability.

Just finished a dinner with the owners of a large RIA firm. While we were still sitting at the restaurant, they moved 100% of their Cardano and 50% of their Solana in to #Bitcoin. They finally get it and they won't be the last.

— Mike Alfred (@mikealfred) November 7, 2021

Solana and DeFi

Solana has also seen its popularity soar in the decentralized finance (DeFi) market, where its total value locked (TVL) currently hovers at more than $15 billion. This is up from approximately $3.5 billion on Sept. 1.

Developers who have had enough of Ethereum’s lofty fees are increasingly flocking to rival platforms like Solana. While Ethereum is likely around for the long haul, other blockchains are increasingly taking market share.  Ethereum is transitioning to ETH 2.0, which is designed to solve the scalability and high-fee issues.

Solana and NFTs

Solana’s profile for NFTs is also on the rise. According to NFT data aggregator CryptoSlam, which counts Mark Cuban among its backers, NFT sales on the Solana blockchain have surpassed $500 million since August, including $12 million in November so far.

As long as the demand for NFTs and DeFi persists, the SOL price could have more room to run before the end of the year.