Solana Surges 3.7% as Institutional Demand and Partnerships Drive Growth

Solana's latest price was $157.47, up 3.705% in the last 24 hours. This increase reflects a broader trend of institutional demand for Solana, indicating heightened market confidence from larger financial players and funds. Recent inflows into Solana-branded financial instruments have outpaced other Layer 1 altcoins, suggesting that larger funds are positioning for long-term uptrends and viewing Solana as a superior substitute for other smart contract platforms. This shift marks a significant change from previous market cycles when retail traders dominated Solana’s price action.

Solana is pushing tens of thousands of transactions per second in banking trials with Minna Bank. This partnership is simulating rapid stablecoin transfers via blockchain, integrating web3 wallets for fee-free crypto payments, and potentially cutting cross-border costs through Solana’s speed. The expansion of the Layer 1 network appears in the context of increasing blockchain adoption as scalable infrastructure is a crucial aspect. Although the overall crypto landscape has been inconsistent, Solana has maintained an upward slant. Such positioning represents an underlying demand as opposed to mere speculative hype.

Beyond price movements, Solana’s network activity continues to record remarkable growth. Key metrics such as daily active wallets and on-chain transactions have risen steadily over the past two weeks. This expansion is attributed to the growing popularity of decentralized finance (DeFi), gaming protocols, and NFT marketplaces operating on Solana. Rising ecosystem utility strengthens Solana’s value proposition and reflects a broadening user base rather than isolated hype cycles.

Solana has been testing the patience of traders for some time. However, the chances of a significant breakout will dramatically increase once the spot SOL ETF is approved. The approval of these exchange tickers is expected to lead to significant inflows for the digital currency. Solana recently received a boost when its first staking ETF was launched, resulting in tens of millions of dollars worth of inflows. While a staking ETF is a valuable financial instrument, the true estimate of a digital commodity’s growth is reflected in its spot ETF, which is still pending before the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Solana has experienced an abysmally poor 2024-2025 bull market overall. The programmable digital currency is among the most highly developed decentralized networks in the world, often beating Ethereum and the rest of the pack in on-chain activity and utility. However, it has yet to translate its strong on-chain performance into robust market activity. The coin is still struggling to break below $200 at the moment, but a major catalyst, such as the spot ETF, could change things considerably for the much-fancied cryptocurrency. The next couple of months will be a major make-or-break event for Solana. With Ethereum largely uninvolved during this bull market, it is expected that smaller programmable networks, such as Solana, Sui, and Tron, among others, could challenge the former’s dominance and, with it, the status quo.

Solana is again under the spotlight as bullish predictions fly, but another contender is gaining speed. Remittix, a rising force in PayFi, has already secured over $15.9 million in funding and is shaking up the crypto payments space with real-world functionality. Still, the million-dollar question is: is Solana capable of hitting $500 this year? Analyst opinions on Solana’s future are divided. Platforms like CoinPedia believe SOL may peak at $400, while others such as Dtunes see a more bullish $500 outcome. People in the market are generally positive because Solana has been growing steadily in DeFi, NFTs, and daily active use. But CryptoRank and Bitpanda say that $500 is only possible in very bullish conditions. Forecasts for 2025 mostly center around the $300–$400 range, indicating that while a $500 breakout is technically possible, it is not the expected outcome.

While Solana focuses on high-speed smart contracts and DeFi expansion, Remittix (RTX) is targeting real-world payments. With its RTX Wallet in TestFlight and a global rollout set for Q3–Q4 2025, users can send crypto directly to fiat bank accounts—no exchanges, no delays. The platform now supports over 50 crypto pairs and 30 fiat currencies. A gig worker in the Philippines, for instance, recently used Remittix to receive stablecoin payments in pesos within minutes—an experience traditional banking fails to offer. The RTX token, priced at $0.0811, is also gaining attention for offering fee discounts and ecosystem governance. With privacy features and non-custodial architecture, it’s quickly positioning itself as the go-to PayFi solution for global users.

According to Helius, Solana is still the leader in DEX activity, with a volume of more than $890 billion in the first half of 2025. The upgrades to Firedancer and RPS 2.0 should also make the system more reliable and faster. More institutions are using NFTs, and there are many enterprise-level NFT use cases. Solana Compass notes that the tech stack is growing very quickly. Ecosystem strength alone doesn’t mean that Solana will reach $500, though. Experts say that it depends a lot on how the market feels, how clear the rules are, and how well new features are rolled out without any major problems.

Volkswagen has taken a major step forward in its autonomous vehicle strategy by choosing Bee Maps, a decentralized mapping platform, to support its robotaxi testing. Bee Maps operates on Hivemapper, a blockchain-based mapping network powered by the Solana blockchain. This partnership brings together traditional automotive innovation and next-gen Web3 technology to create a high-speed, real-time mapping solution. With safety and efficiency as top priorities in the development of autonomous vehicles, having access to dynamic and constantly updated maps is essential—and that’s exactly what Bee Maps provides.

Autonomous vehicles rely on highly accurate and up-to-date maps to navigate streets safely. Traditional maps are static and often outdated, which can be a serious issue for robotaxis operating in unpredictable urban environments. By using Hivemapper’s decentralized infrastructure, Bee Maps collects real-world data through a network of contributors who earn rewards for their map updates. This crowdsourced approach ensures that the mapping data stays fresh and responsive to real-world changes like new road closures, construction zones, or traffic conditions. For Volkswagen, this means more reliable testing environments and faster innovation in their autonomous driving systems.

The use of the Solana blockchain gives Bee Maps a crucial edge. Solana is known for its high speed and low transaction costs, which makes it ideal for real-time data processing. Through this integration, Bee Maps ensures that mapping updates are secure, efficient, and easily accessible to partners like Volkswagen. Volkswagen’s decision to adopt this Solana-powered solution highlights a growing trend: legacy companies turning to blockchain technologies for performance-critical applications. As autonomous driving tech continues to evolve, decentralized mapping solutions may well become the industry standard.

Bullish Exchange and the Solana Foundation have announced a significant partnership focused on leveraging Solana-native stablecoins as the core infrastructure for its institutional trading and clearing operations. This collaboration aims to enhance the efficiency and scalability of Bullish's on-chain financial services by deeply integrating with the Solana network's high-throughput capabilities, signaling growing institutional adoption of Solana's technology for core business functions.

Education technology firm Classover disclosed a major strategic treasury reserve adjustment, increasing its Solana holdings by 295% to surpass 50,000 SOL tokens. This substantial accumulation highlights a deliberate corporate strategy to diversify digital asset reserves and demonstrates tangible confidence in Solana's long-term utility and ecosystem growth potential among institutional holders.

LET Mining has launched new smart mining strategies specifically designed to integrate with the Solana blockchain, aligning with accelerated approval processes observed across leading networks. The infrastructure development aims to leverage Solana's scalability for optimized mining operations, indicating continued expansion of specialized services built around the network's technical capabilities.

Thumzup Media Corporation expanded its cryptocurrency treasury policy by formally approving Solana alongside Ethereum and three other digital assets. This strategic pivot moves beyond their previous Bitcoin-exclusive holding strategy, reflecting recognition of Solana's growing prominence within enterprise blockchain adoption frameworks.

Ethereum and Solana maintain dominant positions in blockchain staking activity, according to industry metrics tracking token lockups. Solana's consistent performance in this area underscores robust network participation and validator engagement, while newer networks continue developing their staking ecosystems beneath these established leaders.

Anticipation around Solana-based exchange-traded funds continues building, with issuers actively engaging in application updates following recent regulatory directives. The evolving landscape suggests potential institutional access points to Solana exposure may emerge as regulatory processes advance, though concrete timelines remain subject to ongoing compliance review.