Solana enters the top 10 cryptocurrency list with huge upsurge

New cryptocurrency Solana spiked in market value and entered the 7th spot in the top 10 cryptocurrency list last August 30. It rose up to 30% reaching a record high of $130, overtaking Dogecoin in the 7th place but later slipped back to the 8th spot that same day. 

According to a Forbes news report posted on September 1, Solana reached a market capitalization of approximately $38 billion. It has risen 37% in the last week of August alone, amounting to a 225% surge over the entire month and has shot up by 70% this year.

In their weekly digital assets report posted on September 6, crypto investment firm CoinShares revealed that most of their investors are selling off their Bitcoin funds and turning to investments related to altcoins. It stated that the company’s investment growth for August was unexpectedly led by Solana, which surged on more than $7 million by August 20. This is a huge leap compared to the two major cryptocurrencies Ethereum and Bitcoin with Ethereum only tacking on $3.2 million while Bitcoin had a loss of $2.8 million. 

In the August 23rd report, CoinShares investment strategist James Butterfill acknowledged Solana as an Ethereum rival and noted its flexible software and faster transaction speed as causes for the rise in demand and market value.

Additionally, Pascale Davies of Euro News said in an article published September 6 that Solana’s support for smart contracts also helped it rise in the market while taking advantage of the attention around decentralised finance (DeFi) projects and non-fungible tokens (NFT).

Before the surge, Solana also took a plunge by 60% this summer amidst the crypto market crash in line with the intensifying regulations implemented by the Chinese government. 

China reiterated their concern about cryptocurrencies on August 31, highlighting the perceived risk of crypto trading. The Security and Exchange Commission in China is also building precedents for more enforcement action on the DeFi side of the crypto world according to CoinDesk’s Nik De in a newsletter published on August 31. This poses a risk on Solana as DeFi is one of the reasons for its surge in the crypto market.