Solana holders had another rough week as $SOL plummeted 11.4% from Dec. 18-24.
Solana Numbers the Last 7 Days
Solana holders had another rough week as $SOL plummeted 11.4% from Dec. 18-24. What started as a steady decline in December spiraled into a full-blown crash, triggered by the Federal Reserve Chair's hawkish comments after the last FOMC meeting.
But it’s not all bad news. In November, Solana's DApp revenue soared to $365 million, with meme coin DApps leading the charge.
Away from the Solana ecosystem, the U.S. government, through the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), reaffirmed that crypto staking is taxable, with tax liabilities occurring as soon as staking rewards are received. Stay on top of your tax obligations.
Now, let’s break down the chaos on Solana (and the broader crypto market) this week.
- Price: $190.75, down 12.73%
- Market cap: $91.46 billion
- DeFi TVL: $8.239 billion
- Daily active addresses: >5 million
- 24h trading volume: $4.75 billion
The bears came out swinging again, driving Solana to a weekly low of $175 before a steady recovery. This downturn led to losses in other key metrics, with daily active addresses dropping and the total value locked (TVL) falling below $8 billion.
In a surprising turn, Solana's DEX volume not only held steady but also delivered a much-needed win for the ecosystem, rising 5.76% to hit $30.486 billion.
Solana's DEX volume has outpaced Ethereum for three consecutive months, breaking Ethereum's long-standing dominance. What a champ!
How Did Solana Stack Up Against Its Competitors?
This week, no asset was safe. Bitcoin plunged 10%, slipping below the crucial $100K mark, even as Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy scooped up over 5,000 BTC. Meanwhile, Ethereum and XRP both dropped more than 10%, setting the stage for a volatile Christmas.
Altcoins are taking a major hit, pushing back the highly anticipated altcoin season. The CMC Altcoin Season Index has now fallen to 51.
There are no winners in DeFi this week as leading blockchain networks lost ground. Solana held onto its second spot, despite its TVL dropping to $8.11 billion. Ethereum saw a sharp decline in TVL, falling from $78.27 billion to $67.2 billion. Meanwhile, Tron and Arbitrum followed the same downward trend.
Solana Ecosystem the Last Week
The situation remains largely unchanged from last week, but the losses are more pronounced. Most of Solana's ecosystem tokens are deep in the red, with a few exceptions posting modest gains.
- Raydium (RAY) bounced back from last week's losses, gaining 4.16% this week.
- Pudgy Penguins (PENGU) soared with a 522% weekly gain, although its market cap has dropped below $2 billion. How long can it ride the momentum?
- For those with a bearish outlook, shorting big-cap Solana tokens this week would have yielded double-digit profits—highlighting just how tough the market has been.
Top Gainers:
- Pudgy Penguins (PENGU): +525.09%
- Raydium (RAY): -12.18%
Top Losers:
- The Graph (GRT): -18.68%%
- PYTH Network (PYTH): -17.90%
- Arweave (AR): -17.68%
- Jupiter (JUP): -16.68%
- Helium (HNT): -15.85%
Solana DeFi
Solana's TVL dipped just over 9%, dropping to $8.3 billion. But here’s the twist—Ethereum (-14.76%) and Tron (-12.28%) took even bigger hits, making Solana's decline easier to accept.
Solana clung to second place with a modest lead over Tron. Ethereum still calls the DeFi shots with the lion's share of the market.
Solana Meme Coins
HTX Ventures has pinpointed the hottest sectors of 2024, and unsurprisingly, meme coins are leading the charge.
Among them, Pump.fun stands out as a cash-flow powerhouse, with Solana's meme coin DApps raking in $509 million this year. Pump.fun alone crossed $100 million by November.
These impressive numbers couldn't stop the market's nosedive though. With the entire crypto landscape burning up, it was always a long shot for Solana's meme coin tokens to escape the sell-off unscathed.
Interestingly, Fartcoin (FARTCOIN) and hehe (HEHE) continued their winning streak from last week.
Top Gainers:
Top Losers:
- Peanut the Squirrel (PNUT): -28.74%
- Dogwifhat (WIF): -28.21%
- Popcat (POPCAT): -25.82%
- Goatseus Maximus (GOAT): --23.73%
- Moo Deng (MOODI): -20.68%
Solana DePIN
- You know the drill by now. Solana's DePIN projects took a major hit, with most facing double-digit losses in a brutal downturn.
- Hivemapper (HONEY), the survivor of the week, took home a modest 1.7% gain.
NFTs
- Solana is dominating the NFT space and its commanding lead over Ethereum says it all.
- Solana still accounts for 35% of weekly NFT users, showing that it has a steady stream of users.
- Smaller chains like Polygon and Base are trying to catch up, but they're fighting for the bronze medal at this point.
Top 5 Solana News Stories
Solana's DApp Revenue Hits $365M in November
Solana's decentralized applications (DApps) hit a massive $365 million in revenue in November, fueled by the meme coin sensation Pump.fun, which alone brought in $106 million.
Solana and Injective Team Up on AI Agents
Injective and Solana's SVM Sonic are launching the Smart Agent Hub, a cross-chain platform for deploying AI agents. Developers will soon be able to integrate Solana-based AI applications into Injective’s ecosystem, enabling tokenization and fractional ownership.
Solana Outshines Ethereum for Third Consecutive Month
Solana continued its impressive streak in December, surpassing Ethereum in a key metric for the third month in a row.
Fueled by meme coins, Solana's decentralized exchange protocols surged to $97 billion in volume, up from $22.6 billion last year, leaving Ethereum’s $74 billion in the dust. The rise signals a shift in market momentum, as Solana steadily gains ground on its rival.
Sonic to Airdrop SONIC Tokens to TikTok Users
Solana's layer-2 gaming platform, Sonic, is launching an airdrop of its SONIC token to users who join through TikTok. By integrating its game, SonicX, directly into TikTok, Sonic aims to replicate the success of mini-apps like those on the TON blockchain in Telegram.
Solana Faces Setback as Bitcoin Leads Inflows
Solana saw $8.7 million in outflows, struggling against stronger competitors like Bitcoin, which led with $375 million in inflows, followed by Ethereum at $51 million.
What You Can Do Now
- Check out Solana's booming DApp ecosystem and dive into the action with Pump.fun.
- Follow the latest developments to discover how you can leverage AI agents on the Smart Agent Hub.
- See how Solana's decentralized exchange protocols can elevate your trading experience.
- Keep your ears to the ground and find out how you can benefit from the SONIC token airdrop.
- Watch institutional moves closely to maximize your trading gains and minimize losses.
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