Experts predict SOL can hit $500 before the end of 2024

Solana eyes $500 amid ETF optimism, while new projects like Crypto All-Stars gain traction in the bull market.

Solana continues to make new highs, showing immense strength this month. And with the volume of its decentralized exchanges pushing higher, it seems nothing can stop SOL’s ascent.

The Solana cryptocurrency has a price target of $500 by the end of 2024, enabled by its increased transactional capabilities over its main rival, Ethereum. From a technical analysis standpoint, SOL has broken a key level, giving a near-term target of $291.

That’s well beyond its current all-time high (ATH) of $259. This breakout could catalyze a near-2x gain towards $500; even if it falls short, a price between $350 and $400 is within reach.

Solana’s largest decentralized exchange, Raydium, is outpacing Ethereum’s Uniswap in 24-hour trading volume. Earlier this week, it was processing almost twice as much money. Today, it’s still facilitating more, with a 16.2% market share, compared to Uniswap’s 14.6%.

Solana meme coins are surging, Pump.fun ecosystem hits $8.4b

The Solana meme coin market is rapidly growing in value, and it’s thanks to Pump.fun, a Solana-based meme coin generator that lets users spin up a token without coding.

Today, Pump.fun tokens are worth a combined $8.4 billion, and they’ve amassed an impressive 24-hour trading volume of $4.6 billion, showing that all eyes are on this market.

Peanut the Squirrel is leading the way among Pump.fun tokens, soaring by 203% in the past week and 3,951% since CoinGecko started tracking its data.

Yet investors who bought when it first listed on Pump.fun will have seen even more gains. Pump.fun tokens with a market cap of $69k automatically get listed on Raydium with $12k liquidity.

While many tokens don’t make it to $69k, some of the ones that do provide a massive opportunity for gains.

Moving away from Pump.fun tokens, Bonk is back leading Solana after doubling in price this week. It now holds a $3.7 billion market cap and a $4.5 billion 24-hour trading volume.

Robinhood and Coinbase lift SOL price

Solana enjoyed a nice pump over the weekend, fueled by growing support among top crypto exchanges. Robinhood relisted a handful of tokens, including SOL – but it’s no longer concerned about allegations that these tokens are unregistered securities.

Meanwhile, Coinbase launched its COIN50 index, which helps institutions track the crypto market. The index is available for trading outside of the US, UK, and Canada.

Solana holds a 6.4% weight in the index, while its actual market cap represents under 4%. Put differently, investors would have to buy more than the market cap weight of SOL if they buy the index.

Institutions are coming to SOL, ETFs are the next step

Institutional interest in Solana is rising as asset managers recalibrate their portfolios to place cryptocurrencies inside the 5% portion that is usually reserved for alternative assets.

“The next wave of crypto adoption likely won’t be driven by crypto-native individuals, but by mainstream investors who prefer to access digital assets through their existing wealth management and financial adviser relationships,” Anchorage Digital CEO and co-founder Nathan McCauley told the Washington Post last week.

Alongside Bitcoin and Ethereum, Solana is a top pick for institutions this year. But entities that aren’t seeking to hold SOL directly can invest in SOL Strategies, a publicly traded company that invests in Solana and its ecosystem. 

As the US regulatory landscape becomes more clear, the likelihood of Solana ETFs being approved is also rising. Asset manager VanEck started the Solana ETF race with an application filed on 27 June.

Expectations that Solana ETFs will be passed soared substantially after Trump’s win. 

Solana’s development and adoption continue to grow

The past month has been a big one for the Solana ecosystem. Here’s some of the notable events driving its bullish price action:

Solana’s Radar Hackathon drew over 10,000 participants, showcasing the huge developer network that the ecosystem has on tap.

Meanwhile, an on-chain analysis found a strong validator distribution with over 4,000 nodes. This emphasizes that Solana is becoming more decentralized over time, which is crucial for network health and stability.

Solana breakpoint was another major event, which saw developments including PayPal endorsing Solana for payments, the unveiling of a new Solana-based smartphone, and Franklin Templeton revealing plans to tokenize assets on the network.

Diversification is key in crypto: 3 alternatives to consider

With all the above factors, it’s clear that Solana is on a roll. But prudent crypto investors ensure they’re well-diversified to offset any unforeseen risk.

And as discussed in this article, meme coins provide a unique gateway to big gains this year. The most well-diversified meme coin is Crypto All-Stars, a staking app that lets users earn passive income on Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, Pepe, Bonk, and more.

It’s drawing a lot of attention, with ClayBro telling his 130k subscribers it is “becoming one of the meme coins to buy now.”

Users can max out their staking rewards by holding STARS, aligning the tokens’ demand with the popularity of all Crypto All-Stars’ supported tokens.

Holders from all the main meme coin communities will now be unified under the STARS token.

It’s undergoing a presale and has raised $4.3 million so far. The current price is $0.0015806, but this will rise in two days.

Cardano is another token to consider right now. ADA has lacked the momentum of Solana in the past year. Still, things have begun turning around after its founder, Charles Hoskinson, revealed he will be in talks with Trump to help create a regulatory framework for crypto.

Indeed, Cardano would benefit from this significantly, and its regulatory alignment could well draw institutional interest. 

Moreover, Cardano is a well-established layer 1 blockchain with almost a decade of peer-reviewed research on scaling, security, and governance.

The final alternative to consider is Kaspa, a layer 1 network that tackles the blockchain trilemma through a novel technology called BlockDAG. This allows Kaspa to create parallel blocks, providing around 400 transactions per second while maintaining decentralization and security.

Kaspa has yet to be listed on major exchanges, but this is expected to change soon – there are rumors a Binance listing is coming.