Solana News Today: Solana's Tech Race: Can It Outpace Dying Onchain Activity?

Solana (SOL) is currently trading between $205 and $220, with technical indicators and market sentiment suggesting a potential breakout. After dropping to $155 on August 3, the price of SOL has rebounded by over 36% to an intraday high of $210. Analysts note that this resurgence aligns with a bullish megaphone pattern on the weekly chart, which could drive the price toward a four-digit milestone if the resistance between $210 and $250 is broken. The pattern, also known as a broadening wedge, is formed by a series of higher highs and lower lows. A breakout above the pattern’s upper boundary may trigger a parabolic rise, potentially pushing the price to $1,057, or a 400% increase from the current level [1].

The relative strength index (RSI) for Solana has increased from 49 to 61 since early August, indicating that bullish momentum is building up. Additionally, the price has broken out of a cup-and-handle pattern on the weekly chart, with the price still trading above the upper boundary of the handle at $160, reinforcing the validity of the breakout [1]. Bulls are now targeting a push above $250, the cup’s neckline, to continue the rally. Above that level, Solana’s price could rise as high as $1,030, based on Fibonacci retracement analysis [1].

Solana’s open interest (OI) in futures markets hit an all-time high of $13.68 billion on Saturday, signaling strong speculative interest in the derivatives market. High OI often precedes significant price moves, as seen between April and July when a 188% increase in OI preceded a 103% increase in SOL’s price. The current surge in OI, coupled with a 17% price increase to around $217, coincides with the approval of the Alpenglow upgrade, which has boosted investor confidence [1]. The Alpenglow upgrade, approved with 98.27% support, significantly reduces Solana’s transaction finality from 12.8 seconds to 150ms, increasing throughput to 107,540 transactions per second (TPS). This enhancement strengthens Solana’s competitive position against Ethereum and could drive the price to new all-time highs in 2025 if institutional adoption and decentralized finance (DeFi) growth accelerate [1].

Despite the bullish price action and strong OI, onchain activity tells a different story. Over the past 30 days, Solana’s transaction count has dropped by 99%, signaling diminishing onchain activity that could hinder price recovery. In contrast, Ethereum transactions increased by 39% during the same period, according to Nansen data. Additionally, Solana’s number of active addresses fell by 22%, further indicating reduced network usage [1]. Decentralized exchange (DEX) activity on Solana also declined for the third consecutive week, with weekly volumes falling by 65% to $10.673 billion, according to DefiLlama data. These figures may pose a headwind for future gains and highlight the need for increased onchain adoption to support the price action [1].

The broader market landscape also includes emerging trends in the meme coin sector, with Layer Brett (LBRETT) being positioned as a potential breakout contender. Built on an Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain, Layer Brett offers low gas fees and high-speed transactions, addressing key limitations of traditional meme coins. Currently in a presale phase, LBRETT is being marketed as a serious DeFi coin with real utility, offering staking rewards and a fixed token supply of 10 billion. Analysts suggest that LBRETT could outshine established meme coins like Pepe and Shiba Inu due to its infrastructure and community-driven model [2]. While Solana and Ripple (XRP) have large market caps that make 100x gains unlikely, Layer Brett’s smaller market cap and innovative Layer 2 approach position it as a potential high-growth asset [2].

Source: [1] Solana Charts $1,000 SOL Price Target, Open Interest Hits All-time Highs (cointelegraph.com) [2] Layer Brett Price Prediction: 3 Reasons Why LBRETT Is Trending Over Top Altcoins (crypto-economy.com)