Red Hot Solana Threatens To Flip BNB As Fourth-Largest Crypto

Updated: 22 December 2023

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Solana (SOL) surged in the past 24 hours to bring it within a whisker of becoming the world’s fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.

And it did briefly seize that spot earlier today before quickly yielding it again to Binance’s BNB coin. When SOL hit $97.07, its market cap surged to $41.38 billion, enabling it to momentarily flip BNB.

SOLANA FLIPPED BNB pic.twitter.com/ISdrnGfoTb

— borovik (@3orovik) December 22, 2023

This achievement marked the first time in over two years that Solana has achieved the fourth ranking, highlighting its resurgence in the crypto world after a 680% pump in the past 12 months.

Solana Closing On Binance Coin

Given its recent steep upward trajectory (+70% in the past month), and Binance’s legal and regulatory woes, the likelihood that SOL flips BNB sooner or later would seem to be high. BNB is up just 10% in the past 12 months and has climbed almost 15% in the past month.

As of 8:45 a.m. EST, SOL is again closing on BNB. SOL’s market cap stood at $40.46 billion, compared with BNB’s $40.76 billion

Solana’s November 2021 Peak

Despite its recent gains, including a 30% increase over the past week and surpassing XRP in market capitalization, Solana’s current position is still a far cry from its November 2021 peak during the bull market cycle.

Back then, it had a market cap of $75 billion, but still trailed behind BNB’s $108 billion.

Factors Driving Solana’s Price Surge

The recent surge in Solana’s price is linked to growing excitement over potential airdrops, an increase in the total value locked (TVL) within its ecosystem, and a bout of meme coin mania.

Over the last day, Solana has experienced the liquidation of short positions worth around $12.64 million, which has contributed to its upward momentum.

Moreover, the trading volume for SOL contracts on the network has jumped significantly by 32%, surpassing $10 billion. The open interest in these SOL contracts has also climbed to 1.34 billion, making Solana the second most popular in terms of open interest, just behind Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).

Meme coin mania also played a part. Bonk (BONK), a Solana-based, dog-themed meme coin, has exploded by more than 1,000% at some points in recent weeks and now has a market cap of $1.2 billion. It’s currently up 312% in the past month but has plunged 32% in the last week.