Solana, the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, excluding stablecoins, experienced a notable surge over the weekend. The SOL token rose by more than 12% on Saturday, as per Coin Metrics, following the launch of a memecoin linked to President-elect Donald Trump. This new memecoin, known as "Official Trump" (TRUMP), launched on Solana's blockchain network and has already attracted over $5 billion, becoming the largest memecoin on the platform according to CoinGecko.
Created in 2020, Solana was designed as a faster and more cost-effective alternative to Ethereum. It has since become home to a variety of popular memecoins such as dogwifhat and Pudgy Penguins, as well as several decentralized finance (DeFi) and gaming projects. The recent introduction of TRUMP has further boosted Solana's prominence in the cryptocurrency space.
The SOL token's impressive performance is not new; it has gained 85% throughout 2024 and is up 25% this year. Earlier, SOL achieved an increase of nearly 23%, showcasing its growing influence and market presence. In contrast, Ether, one of Solana's main competitors, saw a decline of 7%, highlighting the shifting dynamics within the cryptocurrency sector.
As interest in Solana continues to grow, several financial institutions are exploring the possibility of launching exchange-traded funds (ETFs) based on SOL. JPMorgan analysts suggest that if approved this year, these SOL ETFs may only attract a fraction of the assets that flowed into bitcoin ETFs during their first year of trading. The decision deadline for potential ETFs from firms such as Bitwise, VanEck, 21Shares, and Canary is approaching on January 25. Meanwhile, ProShares filed for four distinct ETFs centered around SOL on Friday evening.