Ethereum

Solana

Catch Up

Solana has had one of the <a href="https://www.newsbtc.com/news/solana-q4-triumph-soaring-activity-leaves-ethereum-in-the-dust-report/">best price journeys this year</a>, increasing an outstanding 665% since January. The cryptocurrency has particularly done well in the last quarter of the year, registering price gains that were practically absent for the majority of the year.&nbsp; 
This week, SOL flipped BNB to become the 4th largest cryptocurrency and second-largest altcoin by market cap. At this rate, Ethereum’s spot may be next. 
<h2 id="solana-s-impressive-growth">Solana’s Impressive Growth</h2> 
Solana’s price movement this year has been nothing but surprising, and it has no intention of slowing down anytime soon. At the same time, Solana’s blockchain has <a href="https://www.newsbtc.com/news/solana-threatens-to-unseat-ethereum-in-trade-volume-with-1-billion-in-single-day/">grown in different metrics</a>. The growth can also be simultaneously linked to various airdrops in Solana-based projects and the <a href="https://bitcoinist.com/solana-saga-phone-prices-hit-2000-mark/" rel="nofollow">Solana Saga Phone</a> which gave out 30 million <a href="https://www.newsbtc.com/news/solanas-bonk-token-rockets-to-new-heights-surging-121-on-binance-listing-news/">BONK tokens, a Solana meme coin</a>, for each new owner of the phone. As a result, Solana overtook XRP in market cap rankings for the first time ever, with the latter having a 1.82% price decrease in a 7-day timeframe. 
Solana’s native token, SOL, recently reached a yearly high of $99, helping the network to also briefly overtake BNB in terms of market cap. According to data from Coinmarketcap, SOL’s 24-hour trading volume increased by over 33% to over $5.86 billion.&nbsp; 
However, Solana has since undergone a price correction and is now trading at $91. On the other hand, BNB’s price growth has been slow this year, with the crypto only registering a 9% gain in the past 365 days.&nbsp; 
At the time of writing, BNB is trading at $269, a 22.7% decrease from its yearly high of $348. Solana is now at loggerheads with BNB and it is only a matter of time until it fully overtakes and claims the position of the 2nd largest altcoin. 
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-medium" src="https://www.tradingview.com/x/FFryfW3K/" alt="Solana price chart from Tradingview.com" width="3266" height="1530"> 
<h2 id="can-solana-catch-up-with-ethereum">Can Solana Catch Up With Ethereum?</h2> 
The question now is whether Solana can catch up to Ethereum, the second-largest blockchain network. While Ethereum still dominates in the DeFi, NFTs, and smart contracts space, Solana is continuing to acquire a growing share of the industry. 
In particular, <a href="https://www.newsbtc.com/news/solana/solana-dominates-ethereum-in-daily-active-wallets-sol-back-to-140/">activity on Solana has been on par with Ethereum</a> in the past few weeks, with the chains now rivaling in terms of DEX volume, NFT volumes, active addresses, transaction count, and stablecoin transfers. According to on-chain analytics platform Artemis, total SOL trading volume on decentralized exchanges reached $1.5 billion in the past 24 hours, its highest so far this year. 
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-566564 aligncenter" src="https://www.newsbtc.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Solana-3.png?w=460&amp;resize=460%2C401" alt="Solana" width="460" height="401" srcset="https://www.newsbtc.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Solana-3.png?w=512 512w, https://www.newsbtc.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Solana-3.png?w=460&amp;resize=460%2C401 460w" sizes="(max-width: 460px) 100vw, 460px" data-recalc-dims="1"> 
Solana is currently trading at $91, up by 17% in the past seven days, and is on its way to breaking the $100 price level again. If the <a href="https://bitcoinist.com/solana-outperforms-ethereum-running-nodes-expensive/" rel="nofollow">current pace of price growth</a> continues, we could see Solana revisiting its current all-time high of $259 in the first half of 2024. 
However, Solana still has a long way to go to match <a href="https://www.newsbtc.com/analysis/eth/ethereum-price-reaches-key-juncture-2265/">Ethereum’s network effects</a> and price. Ethereum’s total market cap currently stands at $278.3 billion, $244 billion more than Solana’s $39.4 billion market cap.

Solana Flips BNB To Become 4th-Largest Crypto, Is Ethereum Next

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