Possible ETF Approval: Solana Price Surpasses $200
Solana price surges above $200, showcasing robust market confidence and rising open interest.
Solana Price Surge and Increased Investor Activity
Current on-chain data shows that Solana (SOL) trades at almost $208, reflecting a 9.6% gain in the past 24 hours. This uptick signals growing confidence in the cryptocurrency.
SOL reached a high of $205.64 from a low of $187.82 within the day, with its recovery fueled by positive sentiments surrounding the potential approval of a spot SOL ETF. Speculation about a SOL ETF approval by July 31, 2025, is gaining traction.
Moreover, open interest in SOL futures has risen to $3.42 billion, indicating higher investor engagement. Most of this open interest is tied to perpetual contracts, which account for $3.4 billion, while futures contracts contribute $15.8 million.
Over the last 24 hours, perpetual contracts increased by 10.67%, and futures surged by 85.59%. Binance tops the list of crypto exchanges with $1.7 billion in open interest, Bybit follows at $1.1 billion, and OKX ranks third with $520.5 million.
Furthermore, SOL’s trading volume figures were highest on Binance, with 56,100 SOL/ETH pairs traded within the last day. Coinbase and Kraken follow, with 5,200 and 4,600, respectively.
This surge in SOL’s price and open interest reflects an increasing optimism among investors. Meanwhile, the breakout in the SOL/ETH pair indicates Solana’s resurgence as an attractive investment, contrasting ETH’s slower momentum.
Differences in Solana and Ethereum’s Technical Designs
SOL and ETH have technical differences. The former utilizes a unique Proof of History combined with Proof of Stake for faster transactions. In contrast, Ethereum operates solely on Proof of Stake for scalability.
While SOL’s transaction fees remain consistently low, around $0.00025, ETH’s gas fees fluctuate. Ethereum also has a larger, well-established ecosystem. Solana, though newer, is growing rapidly due to its speed and low costs.
Platforms like Polymarket have seen rising odds for such approval, with current probabilities around 65%, up from 50% last month. Hence, the increased whale accumulation and higher open interest positions in SOL aren’t surprising.
Pump.fun Records $14M in Revenue
Pump.fun, the Solana-based meme coin platform, started 2025 strong with over $14 million in revenue on January 2, indicating the continued interest in meme coins. According to data from Dune Analytics and DeFi tracker DefiLlama, the platform generated 72,506 Solana (SOL) in fees at the beginning of the year.
With SOL trading above $200, this revenue marks the platform’s highest daily profits since its inception. Pump.fun has also maintained dominance in Solana-based decentralized exchange (DEX) transactions, accounting for 52.8% of these transactions in December, per Dune Analytics data.
The strong performance in January builds on a record-breaking November when the platform became the first Solana decentralized application (DApp) to surpass $100 million in monthly revenue, earning $106 million. Pump.fun has accumulated 2,016,391 SOL tokens or about $398 million in total revenue, according to Lookonchain data.
The platform’s team has deposited over $300 million to Kraken, with $41 million converted into USD Coin (USDC). Despite its financial success, Pump.fun has faced challenges.
In November, the platform shut down its livestream feature indefinitely due to public backlash over toxic content, including violence and animal cruelty. This action led to a 66% decline in its weekly revenue.
Additionally, the platform attracted the attention of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK. On December 6, the FCA warned residents about Pump.fun, accusing it of promoting regulated financial activities without approval.
Then, the FCA blocked the UK residents’ access to the platform.
AI Agents to Outpace Meme Coins in 2025?
While meme coins have started 2025 on a high note, there are growing fears that they might lose their market share to AI agents. Dragonfly Capital managing partner Haseeb Qureshi has predicted that AI agent tokens will outperform meme coins in 2025.
In a January 1 post on X, Qureshi described the shift as a migration from “financial nihilism to financial over-optimism.” While he predicts the “AI agent craze” will persist throughout 2025, Qureshi doubts its long-term viability.
AI agent chatbots have gained traction in crypto by offering insights and price predictions. Over the past 24 hours, trading volume for top AI and data tokens increased by 7.95%, even as total meme coin trading volume fell 21.5%, according to on-chain.
Over the last 30 days, the market cap for AI tokens dipped by 1.66%, while meme coins saw a sharper decline of 17.7%.
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