Solana (SOL) has climbed to the 5th spot in the crypto market cap ranking, surpassing XRP, and has topped Ethereum in the 24-hour decentralized exchange (DEX) volume, thanks to the popularity of the meme coin BONK.
Solana (SOL)Â is a blockchain platform that claims to offer high scalability, low latency, and low fees for various applications, such as decentralized finance (DeFi), gaming, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The blockchain platform uses a novel consensus mechanism called proof-of-history (PoH), which timestamps transactions and enables parallel processing by validators. Solana also supports smart contracts, interoperability, and sharding.
Solana has been on a bullish streak in recent weeks, rising to the 5th position in the crypto market cap ranking, surpassing XRP, the native token of the Ripple network. Solana’s market cap has reached $33.21 billion, while XRP’s market cap has fallen to $33.10 billion as of writing. Solana’s price has also increased by 3.23% in the last 24 hours, trading at $77.64, while XRP’s price has gained only 0.31%, trading at $0.6129.
One of the main drivers of Solana’s surge is the rising popularity of the meme coin BONK, which runs on the Solana blockchain. BONK’s price has soared by 80% in the last week, reaching a peak of $0.02 per token. BONK’s trading volume has also contributed to Solana’s growth, increasing by 3400% in the last 24 hours, reaching $507,634,213.
Another remarkable achievement for Solana is that it has surpassed Ethereum, the leading smart contract platform, in the 24-hour decentralized exchange (DEX) volume. DEXes allow users to trade crypto assets without intermediaries using smart contracts and liquidity pools. DEXes are considered more secure, transparent, and cost-effective than centralized exchanges.
According to DeFiLlama, Solana’s 24-hour DEX volume was $1.27 billion, while Ethereum’s 24-hour DEX volume was $1.16 billion, as of writing. This is the first time that Solana has outperformed Ethereum in this metric since its launch in 2020. This milestone reflects Solana’s growing adoption and usage in the DeFi sector, as well as its competitive edge over Ethereum in terms of speed, scalability, and fees.
Some factors that have boosted Solana’s DEX volume include the surge in Solana Mobile purchases, the exclusive promotions for Saga phone holders by Solend and Samoyed Coin, and the bullish sentiment within the Solana ecosystem. Solana Mobile is a smartphone that runs on the Solana blockchain and comes with a generous airdrop of 30 million BONK tokens.
Furthermore, both Solend and Samoyed Coin have announced special benefits for Saga phone holders, such as bonuses, discounts, and rewards. These incentives have increased the demand and activity for Solana-based tokens and apps, resulting in higher DEX volume.
