The collapse of the cryptocurrency market in the first half of 2022 was a difficult test for all its participants. Among the first signs of recovery were fast blockchains that are focused on smart contracts. Among the reasons for the increased interest in them is their ability to facilitate the exchange of NFT tokens and transactions in the metaverse. One of such promising projects is Solana.
In 2021, the coin grew by a staggering 13,000 and broke into the TOP 10 most capitalized cryptocurrencies. Since the beginning of 2022, the price of SOL has fallen by more than 85%, but still holds the 10th position in the ranking.
A little about Solana
The Solana blockchain was created in 2017. The coin entered the market in 2020. The project is focused on the decentralized finance sector. Among the stated goals of the project are providing high blockchain throughput and speeding up transaction processing. Solana’s maximum theoretical throughput exceeds 50,000 transactions per second. Objectively, it is now one of the fastest existing blockchains.
It was possible to achieve such indicators thanks to the use of a hybrid protocol. This protocol combines Proof of History (PoH) algorithms with Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus. Blockchains that use the PoS algorithm consume ten times less electricity compared to early blockchains and surpass them in terms of throughput.
The SOL token is primarily used to pay network fees. The number of tokens is not limited, but in order to maintain a stable inflation rate, the blockchain regularly burns some of the tokens. SOL can be earned by participating in the verification of transactions.
The explosive growth of the SOL rate in 2021 came as a complete surprise to the cryptocurrency market. The unremarkable altcoin even received the loud title of a potential “Ethereum killer”, although the creators themselves did not set themselves such goals.
Why SOL is called the “killer” ETH
Potentially, Solana can become a worthy competitor to Ethereum and other blockchain platforms. High throughput and scalability are just some of Solan’s competitive advantages.
- Low commissions. The average transaction fee on the Solana network in February 2022 was around $0.00025. This is orders of magnitude less than in the Ethereum network.
- Solana’s blockchain is better suited for building smart contracts, NFT solutions, and decentralized applications.
- The blockchain ecosystem is rapidly expanding.
- Solana uses fewer resources and puts less pressure on the environment compared to PoW blockchains.
SOL price changes
Last year’s autumn altcoin season brought a lot of surprises. Those who managed to exchange BUSD to MATIC before it started and left the market before the start of a large-scale drop received a good profit.
In the first ten days of November 2021, the price of SOL briefly exceeded $250. Against the backdrop of a general market correction, the coin fell in price and in the first half of March 2022, SOL was trading at less than $80 per token.
By the beginning of April, a local maximum formed on the chart, after which the price of the coin continued to fall. From the end of May until today, the price of the token did not reach $50 and, at the time of writing, is $35.02.
Not the last role in the collapse of the SOL was played by network failures. For example, on June 1, the blockchain was unavailable for more than 4 hours. In total, 12 failures were recorded during 2022.
SOL price forecast
So far, SOL is likely to move in line with general market trends. However, the future prospects of the project and the price of the token are highly dependent on the solution of the technical problems of the blockchain.
SOL price forecast for 2022
At the moment, all forecasts regarding the price of SOL in the last quarter look moderately optimistic. The maximum expected value is called by CoinPedia experts – $67 per coin. Trading beasts evaluates the potential of the asset more carefully and believes that the price of the coin will not exceed $55. Accordingly, it is unlikely that SOL to BUSD will be exchanged at a higher price this year.
SOL price forecast for 2025
A forecast for a more distant future is a thankless task, especially when it comes to a very young cryptocurrency project. The combination of huge technical potential and a fairly good time to enter the market can work wonders.
With the further integration of cryptocurrencies into the global economy and the further development of DeFi, it is quite possible that the exchange rate will rise to $195. If by this time the problem of failures and network security is finally resolved, it is possible to reach a local maximum at a mark close to $230.
SOL price forecast for 2030
It is expected that by the end of the decade many issues of legal regulation will also be resolved. Paradoxical as it may seem at first glance, but this circumstance will greatly contribute to the activation of market processes. In the worst case scenario, SOL has a chance of breaking the four-figure barrier if it doesn’t happen before 2030.
