Solana, the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has gained by around 24% over the past month alone, making it the top gainer among the top ten largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.
SOL was trading at $181 on July 31 after a slight 0.5% gain in the last 24 hours as of 08:00 a.m. EST.
SOL has been gaining amid positive trader sentiment and growing network usage.
Solana Price Approaches Yearly Highs
Solana’s price has been on a positive upward momentum in recent weeks, with the recent gains seeing the altcoin approach new yearly highs. SOL has even overtaken BNB to emerge as the third-largest non-stablecoin after Bitcoin and Ether.
In the past week alone, SOL has gained from $166 to $193, painting a strong bullish momentum. While the price has since corrected to $181, the overall market sentiment towards SOL remains positive.
Solana’s chart points to waning buyer support. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) at 51 indicates neutral momentum and that traders have exhausted the FOMO that surrounded the token.
However the RSI line is tipping north in a major reversal showing that selling pressure remains weak, and SOL price could consolidate
The price has dropped from the middle Bollinger band, also known as the 20-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) to the lower band. While this could indicate a bearish momentum, the bands are narrowing, indicating that volatility around the SOL token is dropping.
SOL will confirm the resumption of the bullish rally if the price performs a liquidity grab at $185. If the price rallies further to $189, a breakout to a nearly yearly high past $203 will be confirmed.
According to crypto trader Jelle on X, SOL has broken out from the re-accumulation phase, and the price was ready to push higher. The analyst noted that once this phase is over, SOL will enter a “mania-like stage” that will see the price shred previous record highs and possibly rally toward $600.
High Network Usage
One of the factors that have triggered notable gains around SOL is the growing usage of the Solana blockchain.
The Solana blockchain recently surpassed Ethereum in total transaction fees for the first time. During the week of July 22, the total transaction fees on Solana came to $25 million, while the fees on Ethereum reached $21 million.
Among the factors contributing to the growth of the Solana layer 1 blockchain is the rise of meme coins on the network. The total market cap for the meme coins created on Solana has swelled to over $8.9 billion.
The recent development has seen Solana live up to its nickname of being an Ethereum killer. The network is often touted as a hub for blockchain development because of its low fees and fast transaction speeds.
