Tech
Solana rises 14% last week, outpacing Bitcoin and Ether amid new tech releases and ETF registrations in the US
- Solana enjoyed a stellar trading week, with the price of SOL rising more than 14%.
- Analysts believe Solana’s countermove is the result of significant technological advances within the ecosystem.
- Solana is introducing Blockchain Links (blinks) and ZK compression, two distinct changes intended to improve developer adoption and access.
- Additionally, financial institution VanEck publicly filed for a spot Solana ETF, causing a stir in the community.
The cryptocurrency market stabilized after a two difficult weeks, with one project in particular leading the charge. Amid steady weekly gains, popular DeFi ecosystem Solana bucked the trend by recording a 14% price increase.
The move takes SOL close to US$150 (AU$224), as the digital currency surpasses several major competitors, including Ether and BTC.
Two important technical updates coming to Solana
While cryptocurrencies can sometimes be a mystery, Solana’s positive trading week is no mystery: some very significant catalysts are pushing SOL higher.
Last week, the DeFi project announced the introduction of Blockchain Links (or Blinks) on the Solana network. This new technology has the power to potentially introduce SOL to a whole new demographic of users.
Simply put, Blinks can convert actions (like blockchain transactions) into a socially friendly form, like a QR code or link. This allows users to send tokens to the network with the click of a button.
Another technological feat from the Solana camp is the addition of ZK Compression technology. While the jargon is a bit confusing, overall ZK Compression offers an impressive improvement to Solana’s scalability.
It allows developers to access the protocol at a 5000x price reduction, which is quite attractive considering Solana is already renowned for being relatively cheap.
the big news is here
today we introduce ZK compression in Solana, directly on L1, without requiring L2
this changes everything you thought you knew about Solana and L1 scaling
TL;DR: Let’s compress the onchain state for 10,000x scale improvements and get one step closer… pic.twitter.com/7FtyLA3Jdp
— mert | helium | hSOL (@0xMert_) June 21, 2024
Beyond Solana’s ecosystem, external factors also played a role in the coin’s impressive week. As the ETF wars intensify, financial institutions are racing to be first to market. While most of the attention is on Ether ETFs – which is scheduled to go live in the next few weeks – some companies have their eyes set on the future.
Related: BlackRock: BTC a hedge against monetary risk and geopolitical uncertainty
Famed financial manager VanEck has gone one step further, officially Request a Solana Spot ETF last week… even though SOL is nowhere near being approved for TradFi trading.
Some experts are skeptical that VanEck’s move is more of a publicity stunt than a genuine attempt to tap into the Solana ecosystem. But it has prompted another competitor, 21Shares, to follow suit and thrust the DeFi protocol into the news cycle once again.