London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Sep 30, 2025

Why is the crypto world getting excited about Solana (SOL)?

Why is the crypto world getting excited about Solana (SOL)?

Solana has risen in the ranks to become the seventh-largest crypto, overtaking Dogecoin. We look at the reasons behind the hype.

Solana’s SOL token rose to become the seventh-most valuable cryptocurrency this week, overtaking Dogecoin on Fridayand rising by 21 per cent to reach $139.18 (€117).

In the last month, Solana has soared almost 220 per cent.

The token made its debut only 18 months ago but now has a market value of over $30 billion (€25 billion). So, what are the reasons for Solana’s rise in the cryptosphere?

The main reason Solana has attracted so much attention recently is because of the network’s entry into non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which can be anything digital such as art or music that are sold with tech.

Solana launched Degenerate Ape Academy, which sold a collection of pictures of cartoon apes. 10,000 of them sold in the first 10 minutes, which then drove the SOL token higher as people needed the cryptocurrency to buy the cartoon apes.


Solana has also been helped by the August rally of NFTS, which hit a record in sales of about $900 million (€761 million).

Solana has also focused on DeFi (decentralised finance) projects, which cuts out financial institutions and intermediaries and executes financial transactions over the blockchain in recent months.

What is Solana doing differently?


Solana has prioritised smart contracts, which are programmes stored on the blockchain that run when predetermined conditions are met and automate agreements so that everyone is certain of the outcome. They cut out any intermediary and speed up the process.

This has allowed Solana to take advantage of the NFT market and DeFi.

But other cryptos such as Cardano are also planning to enter the smart contract space, so there will likely be increased competition.


Solana also uses the proof-of-history (PoH) consensus, which means that messages are grouped together so that there is proof and a record of the time of each message. The concept allows for greater scalability and trust on the blockchain.

One of the network’s other main promises is that its users will not be surprised with increased taxes and fees.

Solana logo


Traders have also been speculating on a possible new feature Solana is set to launch in early September but little is known on what the feature could be.

Is Solana a rival for Bitcoin and Ethereum?


According to crypto investment company CoinShares, Solana has picked up more than $7 million (almost €6 million) in investment over the past week. Whereas Bitcoin saw a loss of $2.8 million (€2.3 million) in investment. But Solana is unlikely to knock Bitcoin from the top spot anytime soon.

Solana is seen more as a rival to Ethereum as the tech is cheaper and claims to offer a faster transaction speed, at 50,000 transactions per second.

Are there any threats to Solana?


As more blockchains begin to use smart contracts and move into NFTs, Solana will face more competition in the space it has carved for itself.

But there is another threat. Crypto regulations in China saw Solana’s price fall 60 per cent this summer amid the crypto market crash.

The United States is also investigating the cryptocurrency market, which could pose another threat to the values of all tokens.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
Explosive Email Shows Sarah Ferguson Begged Forgiveness from Jeffrey Epstein After Taking His Money
×