Created in 2017 by Anatoly Yakovenko and a few other fintech specialists from Qualcomm, Solana is the first blockchain to use a timestamping methodology called proof of history (POH) to achieve consensus. POH aims to eradicate the problem of speed and scalability that has plagued many older blockchains. POH reduces to a great extent, the time taken to achieve consensus on a network, while still being decentralized.
Solana became live on Mainnet Beta in March 2020 after raising $1.76 million in a public token sale and has within a short period of time, made its way into the top ten list of cryptocurrencies.
Solana’s POH is essentially an improved version of the regular proof of stake (POS) consensus model that includes in its use, a unique POH algorithm that uses a synchronized clock to time stamp transactions at lightning-fast speed instead of having to wait for validators to achieve consensus like in other blockchains, which is a lot slower. Since time cannot be reversed, Solana cleverly uses the passage of time to verify authenticity of transactions - all that is required for Solana to validate transactions is a time stamp. As time stamping can be done in milliseconds, this hybrid consensus model can theoretically allow Solana to process over 710,000 transactions per second (TPS) without requiring any scaling solution like layer-2s or rollups.
This unique way of validating transactions which allows for greatly increased speed and improved scalability is what makes Solana different from other blockchains. With such a revolutionary proposition, Solana’s native token, SOL, has become a top ten cryptocurrency that is a favourite investment amongst many savvy crypto investors.
Factors Affecting SOL Price: Influences on Solana (SOL) Price Predictions
As each digital asset has been created to serve a different purpose, there are varying factors that can influence the price of each of them. With SOL, since it is a relatively new cryptocurrency with only a two-year track record, the key factors influencing its price as well as forecasts are mainly demand driven, as the token has not yet reached the reputation of legacy cryptocurrencies like ETH and BTC, who have a longer history and are thus, deemed more trustworthy by more conservative investors.
As such, the team at Solana has painstakingly created user-friendly products to work exclusively with Solana in order to increase the number of new users. Partnerships with other platforms, as well as sponsorships and promotions were also some quick and efficient strategies Solana deployed to bring in new users to drive mass adoption.
User-friendly Exclusive Wallet
The demand for SOL surged a great deal after the Solana team launched their exclusive web wallet called Phantom. Before Phantom was introduced, SOL had been trading for a year and already had a first-generation wallet called Sollet that was not as user-friendly and could not support NFT. Thus, it did not generate the user explosion that Phantom, with its built-in NFT storage capability, beautiful graphics, and idiot-proof ease of usage, did.
Platform Partnerships and Clever Marketing
After Phantom was launched, the Solana team partnered with centralized crypto exchanges to promote the token and sponsored the building of decentralized exchanges on the Solana blockchain. In particular, the combination of Phantom wallet with an exclusive decentralized exchange only for the Solana ecosystem called Serum made for a formidable combination which was the main driver in the adoption of SOL.
When the NFT craze came, team Solana also saw the opportunity to promote NFTs built on Solana as the cheaper alternative to ETH’s then overwhelmingly popular NFTs. The Solana team strategically sponsored a high-profile music festival to promote NFTs on Solana, which proved to be a big win for the network, as the event sent prices of Solana NFTs soaring, which caused the demand for SOL to skyrocket since Solana NFTs could only be purchased with SOL tokens. This propelled the price of SOL to a meteoric rise within just a couple of months.
Macro Backdrop
Regardless of how successful marketing could send the price of a token higher, macroeconomic situation that affects the entire market is one important factor any asset is not able to independently shake off. It is the same with crypto - when the broad market enters its bear market phase, no one token is spared. SOL is no exception.
As with all other good things, the SOL party finally came to a halt when the macro-economic environment changed.
As global central banks turned from an easing bias to a tightening bias to stem inflation, crypto prices, including that of SOL, finally came crashing back down to earth. Amid the double whammy of rising interest rates and a fear of recession hitting economies hard, risky asset prices have been hard hit, with BTC having fallen 68% from its all-time-high at current levels, and SOL falling more than 82% off its high of $260 to around $41 currently.
The current short-term market pain in the market, while affecting demand to a certain extent, is not expected to have a long-term impact on the development and growth of the Solana ecosystem, and thus, not expected to affect the price of SOL for the long-term.
Solana (SOL) Price Performance from Past to Present
SOL was launched via a one-week ICO at $0.22 between 16 and 24 March 2020 and burst onto the crypto scene during the mid-stage of the crypto bull market, which helped it to gain massive interest as many crypto traders were already on the lookout for the next crypto gem.
SOL began to get listed on several large crypto exchanges in April 2020, and CoinMarketCap started tracking its price movement in the same time period. The price of SOL saw a gradual rise from its launch price of $0.78 to $4 in the following 6 months after each new listing on a large exchange. However, by the end of 2020, as no more new exchange listing was being added, the price of SOL started drifting from $4 back to $1.20 as the year 2021 approached.
Phantom Wallet Lured Investors To SOL
It wasn’t until after February 2021 when a new Metamask-killer wallet, Phantom, was soft launched that made investors sit up and give SOL their attention again. Phantom was designed to be a challenger to Ethereum’s Metamask with its specialized ability to hold both cryptocurrency and NFTs together all in one interface. The wallet also did not need an installation unlike Metamask, but could instead connect to any web browser, making it perfectly portable on different devices. Moreover, it was intuitive and easy to use, with beautiful graphics that attracted many users to the platform who tried out the experience and got hooked. As crypto thought leaders trialled and gave raving reviews about the wallet, the price of SOL started rising steadily and had already hit $26 by the time Phantom was officially launched in April, and subsequently rose to $100 by mid-May as word of mouth continued to lure new users to buy SOL in order to try out the new “Phantom experience”.
NFT Craze Further Propelled SOL
SOL also benefited greatly from the rise of DeFi and NFTs in the summer of 2021. Marketing partnerships with both centralized and decentralized exchanges further brought users to know of and use SOL at a time when platforms run on Ethereum were experiencing network congestion and high transaction fees during the DeFi and NFT craze of 2021.
As the price of SOL started consolidating after the hype of the new Phantom wallet cooled, the team used the NFT craze to their benefit by sponsoring a high-profile music festival, the Lollapalooza, which was at the time, promoting the use of NFTs for musical artists to protect their intellectual properties.
As SOL’s userbase grew and many eventually became Solana converts, market pundits aptly referred to the period of SOL’s magnificent price increase as “Solseason” or “Solana Summer”.
The launch of SOL Apes, Solana’s version of a cheaper and faster alternative to Bored Ape Yacht Club, the then extremely in-demand Ethereum-based NFT Ape collection, further propelled SOL into the crypto top ten in August 2021 as its price smashed the $100 barrier.
By September 2021, Apes and other NFTs issued and run on the Solana blockchain surged in popularity due to their almost negligible cost of minting compared with those issued on Ethereum, which were plagued with high minting costs and slower transaction speed. The price of SOL surged beyond $200 before eventually topping out at $260 in November 2021.
Victim of Global Interest Rate Hikes
SOL subsequently retreated together with the rest of the crypto market in November 2021 when the price of BTC dropped from its all-time-high of $69,000. Under the impact of an aggressive rising interest rate environment globally, the price of SOL finally broke below its upward sloping trend channel which had supported its price for one year on 28 December 2021.
Solana Past Performance For 2022
The price of Solana suffered so much price declined in the later part of 2022 as the domino effect of FTX exchange going bankrupt had a negative effect on the price of Solana token as the price suffered a loss from a region of $45 to a region of $8.5 as the price of SOL bounced off from this region rallying to a high of $25 in the recent relief bounce of 2023.
The community of Solana has continued to remain strong despite the unfortunate events as many believe there are more potential growth and positive contributions to the blockchain industry from the Solana ecosystem.
How is Solana (SOL) doing now?
As with the rest of the crypto market, SOL has retreated by around 82% off its high reached in November 2021 during the peak of the crypto bull market. It is currently hovering around $41, having just bounced off its low of $12.28 last month. Despite the seemingly large percentage fall, SOL remains one of the best performing cryptocurrencies in the market, still up more than 56 times from its initial listing price of $0.78.
Controversy and Saving Grace
Notwithstanding its solid track record, SOL is not without controversy and issues.
Since the height of its popularity, the Solana blockchain had been plagued with chain stoppage issues when overzealous potential buyers of their immensely popular NFTs created ultra-high frequency robots to try and win bids for Solana-based NFTs. The attempts were akin to multiple simultaneous DDos spam attacks on the blockchain which caused it to go offline several times.
The Solana blockchain has since had around eight such stoppages over the past year since the first “attacks” began last September, prompting some critics to argue that the blockchain is not reliable.
To be fair to SOL however, just to give a glimpse of the number of transactions Solana has had to deal with, we need to highlight that the Solana blockchain has handled the highest number of transactions ever, compared with any other blockchain in its mere 2 years of existence. For instance, Solana has processed more than 85 billion transactions in just two years, which is 800% more than Ethereum, which has been around for more than 7 years. The load that Solana has to process is leaps and bounds above that of any blockchain in existence, one that no other blockchain has been tried and tested on to such an extent.
Hence, while it is not an ideal situation, it may be almost forgivable that the Solana blockchain, while still in its infancy, would break down once in a while as it has to deal with an exceedingly large number of transactions.
Furthermore, other factors point in favour of Solana. Despite having this uptime issue, Solana remains the blockchain with the highest number of developer activity, surpassing that of even Ethereum, which is at a faraway second place. This implies that Solana is easily one of the blockchains with the highest number of improvement works and applications being built on, which means that adoption on Solana is likely to continue growing faster than other blockchains, in spite of its reliability issues.
Solana (SOL) price prediction today
As the price of SOL has bounced off its low, many traders are interested to find out how it will perform in the coming days. Read on to find out Solana price predictions from automated Artificial Intelligence programs.
Short-term Solana (SOL) price prediction for February 2023
In December 2022, SOL has bounced off a low of $8.5 to an interim high of $16, an increase of almost 100% in just a month. The token however, spent most of its time around the average price of around $18.
After an almost 100% rise in January, the price of SOL is expected to start February with some retracement before taking out higher levels again later in the month.
Solana (SOL) price prediction for the rest of 2023
As price continues to recover, the area near $90 may provide some formidable resistance as the bulls and bears fight it out. However, Solana price prediction programs largely expect price to eventually break beyond $100 by the end of 2022.
Solana (SOL) price prediction for 2023
By 2023, the bear market bottom would have already been in, and SOL price should move higher in a gradual fashion in line with the early stages of a new bull market. Price may eventually take out its previous all-time-high around the end of 2023.
Long-term Solana (SOL) price prediction beyond 2023 to 2030
As the crypto market enters a new bull market cycle between 2024 and 2025, Solana price prediction from 2024 to 2025 is very bullish. After the bull market cycle ends in 2026, price could retreat again before heading higher as another new bull market comes around in 2029. However, due to the increase in crypto adoption and maturing of web3 technology, SOL’s price never comes back to revisit its current lows during the next bear market.
Long-term Solana (SOL) price prediction by experts
After looking at Solana’s price prediction by Artificial Intelligence, let us examine some Solana price predictions made by various human crypto experts recently.
CoinPriceForecast
CoinPriceForecast has one of the more conservative outlooks. They are of the view that SOL could rise to $58 by the end of 2022, while it would be worth around $141 by the end of 2025. Looking ahead to 2030, CoinPriceForecast sees SOL continuing to rise, reaching $250 by the end of 2030.
Gov Capital
Gov Capital is a little more bullish, expecting SOL to surge to $263.50 by the end of 2022, and continuing to rise over the next few years. By the end of 2023, Gov Capital predicts SOL to trade between $388 and $524. By end of 2025, Gov Capital sees SOL surging to at least $1,068 in the bear case, or to a high of $1,445 in a bull case.
Changelly
Experts polled by Changelly have a moderately bullish outlook for SOL. Below is the summary of their Solana price predictions.
Trading Education
Trading Education belongs to one of the more bullish camps. According to their Solana price prediction, the price of SOL will reach $270.43 by the end of 2022 as the team works to repair its image damaged by their chain stop issues. By the end of 2023, their issues will be resolved, and SOL will rise to $411.29. By the end of 2025, it will reach $1,010.57 as it reaches a similar scale as Ethereum and will rise further to $2,214.62 in 2027, and $4,250.75 in 2030.
CoinPedia
CoinPedia expects SOL to end 2022 at $57.48 in bullish scenario and $40.78 if a bearish situation plays out. For 2023, it expects SOL to trade between $50.77 and $93.2, while for 2024, a low of $83.13 and a high of $147.15. However, the firm also notes that emerging rivals and stiffer competition might leave SOL stuck at $83.13. Also expecting SOL to reach the scale of Ethereum by 2025, CoinPedia has a more conservative price target of between $123.79 and $235.56 due to a fear of regulatory impact on SOL’s future.
What does the team at Margex think: Solana Price Prediction by Margex
The Margex platform provides users with all the necessary technical analysis tools to perform detailed technical analysis to estimate future market prices. Using the same suite of tools, the team of charting specialists at Margex have provided their own Solana price prediction. Please note, this is not investment nor financial advice and past performance is not indicative of future results. Current or previous predictions may also be subject to change, especially when there are regulation changes. Always do your own research and never invest more than you can comfortably afford to lose.
Ever since bottoming out at around $25 in June which is an area of strong support (blue solid line), SOL has risen nicely within a rising trend channel (blue dotted lines) and is currently in the middle of it. Price could continue inching slowly upwards while it ebbs and flows along the top and bottom boundaries of the trend channel until it hits the confluence of resistance at the area near $79, where bears could add a lot of selling pressure because this is an area where the top of the falling major trendline (red dotted line) is. The level near $79 is also an area of horizontal resistance (red solid line) which perfectly aligns with the top of the main falling trendline that has been keeping the price of SOL down for the whole of 2022 so far. While we are of the view that SOL would eventually break out of that major downtrend, price could hover around the area near $79 to build a solid base before attempting a final breakout to end the downtrend and start a new bullish uptrend. It is possible that this could happen within the next 6 months and once a breakout occurs, SOL price could see a smoother rise in the years 2023 and 2024 and even hit a new all-time-high by the end of 2024.
Solana FAQ
After learning about Solana, let us have a quick review on some commonly asked questions our community of traders have regarding Solana (SOL).
Will Solana go Up in 2023?
While some experts are openly critical and bearish on SOL because the blockchain has had several chain stop issues which they refer to as breakdowns, most experts take a more optimistic stance towards the future of Solana, and thus, do see the price of SOL going up. These experts, however, differ in the level of their bullishness, with some expecting SOL to take some time to lift off again as the team continues to fix any issue that may cause more breakdowns in future. Many expect 2022 to be a year of repairs as the team put together a more resilient blockchain and have lower price expectation on SOL. That said, SOL has a very strong and vocal community comprising of influential thought leaders within the crypto space and these people speaking well of SOL could send the price of SOL surging within a very short time period as we have seen in the summer of 2021. Do have a look at the collection of Solana price predictions we have put together above to give you a better idea.
How much will Solana be worth in 2025?
According to opinion polls by various crypto experts, technical analysts, and Artificial Intelligence, SOL could be worth anywhere between $141 to $4,000 in 2025. Please refer to the many Solana price predictions we put together above for direct answers related to the year 2025.
How valuable is Solana?
As a one of its kind blockchain that uses the proof of history consensus mechanism, Solana could be very valuable once it manages to break out of its current technical issue of difficulty in managing DDos spam attacks. However, other than the stoppage issue, Solana has handled the highest number of transactions that no other blockchain can even dream about. This goes to show that the level of adoption on Solana is like no other blockchain. Further to this, Solana has the highest number of active developers working on it, showing that there will be a lot more applications and improvements on this already very popular blockchain. Since adoption level and upgrades are the key health barometers of a blockchain, the high levels of such engagements on Solana does make it look valuable. Â
Can SOL reach $3000?
SOL is going through its first bear market as a relatively new token. Even then, its price is rather well supported and has been able to bounce off its low very strongly. Adoption and development continue to grow despite the harsh overall economic and market conditions and with this, it could be possible that SOL could reach $3,000 in time to come in a bull market. Please refer to the Solana price prediction summary we put together above for more information.
What will SOL be worth in 5 years?
While 5 years is still some time away, using the cryptocurrency 4-year bull-bear cycle as a guide, SOL could be worth a lot more in 5 years compared with its current price since we are already in the middle of a bear market at a time when Solana is still a relatively new blockchain which has room to grow and improve. Please refer to the Solana price predictions we put together above to make an informed guess about how much SOL could be in 5 years.
Is Solana worth investing in 2023?
From the Solana price predictions that we have put together above, investing in Solana in 2023 seems like a good idea, especially at a time when the price has retraced significantly off its all-time-high and is also trading near a strong horizontal support. Please refer to our article above for a more in-depth study to get a better idea of whether Solana is worth investing in 2023.
