Solana (SOL), the native token of the eponymous blockchain, not too long ago overtook Terra’s LUNA to reclaim its spot because the eighth-largest crypto token by market capitalization. The rally comes on a string on constructive information that drove demand for the token by means of final week.
SOL, which is probably the most staked token out there, jumped 21% within the final seven days, and was buying and selling close to a two-month excessive of $110. It at the moment sits at a market capitalization of $35.9 billion, having not too long ago surpassed the $33 billion of LUNA. The transfer comes solely about two months after LUNA had surpassed SOL in market capitalization- though a significant factor on this was additionally due to losses in SOL.
LUNA lagged its friends by means of final week, and was buying and selling at ranges seen final Monday. However the token has additionally benefited drastically this yr from the rising reputation of the stablecoin TerraUSD (UST).
Gaming partnership, institutional curiosity enhance SOL
Krafton, the South Korean developer behind the wildly fashionable videogame PUBG, final week mentioned it was collaborating with Solana Labs to develop blockchain video games and even a metaverse. The developer cited Solana’s characteristic to host extremely scalable purposes as one of many key drivers behind the deal.
Digital asset supervisor CoinShares, and world no. 3 crypto alternate FTX entered a partnership final week to launch a physically-backed Solana alternate traded product (ETP) for European traders, which permits merchants to entry SOL staking rewards with out immediately investing within the token.
The ETP will launch with 1 million SOL ($100 million) in seed capital. The product caters largely to the institutional market, which has develop into a significant driver of crypto costs in recent times.
Moreover, SOL additionally makes up almost 1 / 4 of weightage in a not too long ago launched good contracts fund from digital belongings supervisor Grayscale. The transfer can also be anticipated to spice up institutional funding within the token.
Broader crypto sentiment additionally improves
The broader crypto market has additionally been having fun with a growth in curiosity over the past week. Complete crypto market capitalization jumped 12% to commerce above the $2 trillion mark for the primary time since February.
Good points in prime altcoin Ethereum (ETH), pushed by the ETH chain’s impending swap to a proof-of-stake (PoS) mannequin, have spilled over into most different fashionable tasks. The swap has additionally drawn consideration to a number of different PoS tokens, benefiting SOL.
