In a dramatic rally, Solana's native token, SOL, surged by an impressive 61.5% from November 5 to November 22, reaching new all-time highs at $263. This ascent is reflective of the broader altcoin rally, which gained 58%, almost paralleling Bitcoin's approach towards the $100,000 threshold.
The surge in SOL is largely attributed to the election of President-elect Donald Trump in the recent 2024 US Presidential Election and a resurgence in Solana's network activity driven by a revived memecoin craze. This upswing has led to multiple onchain metrics hitting unprecedented levels, including the recent peaks in decentralized exchange (DEX) volumes on the Solana network.
The Layer-1 blockchain Solana has shattered records with its DEX volume, as evidenced by data from DefiLlama. On November 25, Solana's monthly trading volume on decentralized exchanges surpassed $100 billion. The cumulative total for November reached $109.8 billion in DEX trading, nearly double Ethereum's $55 billion for the same period, marking a significant 109% increase from October's $52.5 billion figure.
Additionally, daily DEX volumes set a new record of $7.14 billion on November 18, with weekly trading volumes peaking at $41.6 billion by November 17. The last comparable month was March 2024, with $59.8 billion. This surge was fueled by heightened network activity and a flourishing memecoin market beginning in Q3 2023.
Significantly, this period also witnessed SOL prices increase over 800% between October 2023 and April 2024.
Solid Onchain Metrics Fuel SOL's Growth
Analysts link SOL's price increase and soaring DEX volumes to the memecoin resurgence within Solana's ecosystem. The emergence of platforms such as Pump.fun and the Raydium DEX, leveraging low transaction costs and ease of use, have amplified this trend.
Data from DefiLlama reveals that monthly fees from Pump.fun and Raydium reached $71.5 million and $182 million, respectively, in November. Meanwhile, Solana saw its active address count peak at close to 25 million this month, as reported by Glassnode.
According to crypto analyst Aylo, Solana currently leads by many metrics, holding the largest DEX volume share. SOL is valued at approximately 29.5% of Ethereum's market capitalization and continues to be repriced accordingly.
Technically, SOL's strength is evident as it moves past a rounded bottom pattern on the weekly chart. Bulls aim to drive prices toward a projected target of $300, marking a 19% increase from current levels.
The weekly chart displays a positive relative strength index (RSI) at 70, indicating favorable market conditions. However, the RSI also suggests possible overbought conditions, which may prompt a retracement to the rounded-bottom pattern's neckline at $200.