Solana Flips Ripple XRP to Become 5th Biggest Cryptocurrency
SOL rose 12% today to overtake Ripple XRP as the fifth-biggest cryptocurrency. Analysts are now predicting it could flip Ethereum by 2024
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Solana has overtaken Ripple XRP to become the fifth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap after gaining more than 12% in the last 24 hours. SOL's recent performance is fueling the predictions from several analysts that it will flip Ethereum to become the biggest smart contract network in 2024.
SOL Performance
According to CoinMarketCap, SOL rose almost 12% in the last 24 hours to reach its best price in over 20 months. The token trades above $86, and the performance means its market cap has reached $37 billion. This puts it above XRP, which has a market cap of $33.4 billion. SOL's recent performance is despite the selling pressure from FTX bankruptcy estate offloading its SOL holdings.
The major factor driving SOL performance is the resurgence of the DeFi ecosystem on the Solana network. DeFi on Solana has enjoyed a massive boost in recent months due to airdrops from several projects and the memecoin trading mania. The memecoin frenzy started with BONK and has seen other tokens, including Dogwifhat, join the fray. Due to all these, Solana DeFi TVL has now crossed $1 billion for the first since October 2022.
However, it's not just the trading activity driving Solana's performance. The network has also become more stable due to upgrades to its infrastructure. The days of frequent crashes and outages seem over, given there has been no such report since its resurgence. Solana looks set for the moon with its improved technology and better reputation.
Solana Saga Phone Sellout
Solana's resurgence has made some people millionaires and helped the project itself. Solana's flagship mobile device, the Saga phone, has now sold out, into a sell-out. The Saga phone, released in April, lagged in sales for several months, leading to a 40% cut in price.
Despite the price cuts, it still performed poorly in the market until recently, when buyers discovered the phone contained 30 million BONK airdrops. The discovery caused interest in the phone to skyrocket, with prices going for as much as $2000 for resale on eBay.
Although the phone is fully sold out, owners will likely get more airdrops from projects based on the network. Content monetization platform Access protocol disclosed on December 19 that it will give 100,000 ACS tokens to Saga phone owners. When making the announcement, 100,000 ACS was worth over $250. This means those who bought the phone after the price cut could make all their money back by just selling the tokens on the phone.
Will Solana Flip the Ethereum?
With Solana up more than 700% year-to-date, several analysts have predicted it will overtake Ethereum as the leading smart contract network by 2024. This bullishness is characteristic of the crypto industry. However, there is still a wide disparity between the two networks and their tokens in terms of value. Ethereum currently has a TVL of $27.8 billion compared to $1.22 billion for Solana. ETH is also worth $2,266, with a market cap of $272 billion.
