Solana’s native cryptocurrency, SOL, denominated as SOLUSD, has achieved an impressive 81% increase in its value over the last 30 days, with a remarkable 30% surge in the past week. This significant upturn can be attributed to the launch of the long-awaited scaling solution, Firedancer, on the blockchain’s testnet.
Related: Solana (SOL) Toward $40 as Bullish Momentum Grows Amid Exciting Developments
On November 2, SOL reached a price point exceeding $41, marking its highest valuation since August of the previous year, according to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro. Often referred to as a potential “Ethereum killer,” SOL has substantially outperformed its competitor, Ether (ETHUSD), which managed less than an 11% gain in the same one-month period.
In the past few weeks, SOL-related investment products have experienced substantial inflows, as reported by CoinShares. Nevertheless, SOL’s current value remains approximately 84% lower than its all-time high of nearly $260, which was recorded on November 6, 2021.
At the Breakpoint conference held by Solana on October 31, Dan Albert, the executive director of the Solana Foundation, unveiled the testnet launch of Firedancer. This solution, developed by Web3 development firm Jump Crypto since last August, functions as a new validator client for the network. Anatoly Yakovenko, the founder and CEO of Solana Labs, has stated that Firedancer is designed to enhance speed, reliability, and validator diversity. Its expected mainnet release is slated for the first half of 2024.
Firedancer has been positioned as the long-term remedy to address Solana’s prior network outage issues, which Anatoly Yakovenko has described as a “curse.” In 2022, Solana encountered 14 instances of partial or major outages, but in 2023, its uptime improved significantly, with only one major outage reported in February.
However, there are concerns that SOL’s value may face selling pressure due to the movement of $56 million worth of the cryptocurrency linked to FTX, which was unstaked and transferred to an unknown wallet. Additionally, an additional $32 million worth of SOL associated with FTX and Alameda Research has been moved to a wallet suspected to be the designated liquidator for these firms, namely, Galaxy Digital.
Other alternative cryptocurrencies (altcoins) have also witnessed robust price increases throughout the month, driven by positive sentiment in the crypto market. On November 2, the Crypto Fear & Greed Index recorded a six-point surge from the previous day, reaching a score of 72 out of 100, indicating a sentiment of “greed.”
For instance, Chainlink’s LINK has experienced a substantial 54% gain in the past 30 days. Furthermore, Bitcoin (BTC), Avalanche (AVAX), and Near (NEAR) have all posted 30-day gains of 30%, 32%, and 37.5%, respectively.