Inside Solana’s Volatile Surge: What’s Fueling the SOL Price Boom?
May 28 2025, Published 2:20 a.m. ET
May has already been a wild ride for the world’s fifth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, with the Solana price rising from $142.02 on April 30 to over $184 on May 13. The currency’s value has risen by over 30% in just two weeks. Inside that story of swift growth, SOL has remained volatile on an hourly basis, swinging up or down more than $10 in a single hour.
What has made it such an exciting time for SOL?
Several factors appear to be in play. First, across cryptocurrency markets, both large institutions and whale traders have been buying up large amounts of digital coin in May, continuing a trend from this past winter. Many online casinos have started accepting cryptocurrencies for stakes, and some real estate investors have begun purchasing international properties with crypto. This broader wave of crypto adoption has supported growing confidence in digital assets like Solana.
SOL, specifically, has also benefited from several large changes in the world of decentralized finance.
Increased Institutional Investment
According to statements, DeFi Development Corp, a NASDAQ-listed firm, just made headlines after its stock rose 20% following its purchase of approximately $100,000 USD in Solana coins. Meanwhile, block traders have been hurrying to take part in Solana’s $200 call option, which expires June 27. Canada’s progressive stance on crypto ETFs, some of which may include Solana as part of a broader portfolio, has likely contributed to the market’s bullish sentiment.
As the prevalence of cryptocurrency changes how people manage their money and handle online payments, more large financial institutions have begun using Solana and other large digital assets. For example, Visa’s use of Solana for stablecoin payments demonstrates the deepening institutional trust in this currency and has helped increase the Solana price.
A Fast and Nimble Network
Solana has always had a reputation for speed. The platform’s founders envisioned a third-generation network that would resolve Vitalik Buterin’s “blockchain trilemma,” increasing performance over time without diluting security or decentralization. Solana’s developers have expressed the goal of making a network that will host decentralized apps with similar (or better) functionality as large centralized platforms like Android and iOS. Solana’s recent announcement of the Solana Saga – a smartphone tailored to the Solana network, running Solana apps – is just one of the latest moves in this direction.
What has made Solana particularly attractive to large traders and institutions recently is its speed. The blockchain uses Turbine, a home-grown protocol that accelerates data distribution, and recently added the Firedancer validator client, which was designed from the ground up specifically for the Solana network. These measures provide Solana with high security and resilience against attacks on the supply chain.
Such steps have also made it possible for Solana to process transactions much more quickly than its competitors, with lower transaction fees. Ethereum’s average transactions per second (TPS) is 15, for example, but Solana’s maximum throughput, under ideal conditions, is 24,000 TPS. Ethereum, which requires more computing power to handle transactions, charges an average of thirty cents per transaction, but Solana’s typical average transaction fee is $0.00026. This has drawn a growing number of decentralized app developers, memecoin creators, and crypto traders to the blockchain, further accelerating Solana’s growth.
A Developer-Friendly Ecosystem
Solana’s appeal isn’t just technical; it’s practical. One main reason that developers flock to the platform is its versatile development environment. Solana supports multiple mainstream programming languages like Rust, C, and C++.
In contrast, blockchains like Ethereum require developers to write in a language native to their network. Solana’s broad support for programming languages lowers the barrier to entry, effectively making the platform a sandbox for Web3 developers.
Looking Ahead
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Will Solana continue to reward bullish investors? No one owns an accurate crystal ball in the world of cryptocurrency, but what is apparent at the moment is that Solana is currently proving to be an attractive option for large institutions looking to invest more of their capital in digital assets. For Web3 enthusiasts, Solana is currently one favored threshold for accessing DeFi apps, gaming, and Web3 social platforms. For risk-on traders, the heightened volatility of SOL coin may appear more like an attractive feature than a bug.
These developments have contributed to recent upward momentum, though the future trajectory for the Solana network remains subject to broader market conditions. It will be interesting to watch further changes to the Solana price, especially as the June 27 expiration date for SOL’s $200 call option approaches.
Investing involves risk and your investment may lose value. Past performance gives no indication of future results. These statements do not constitute and cannot replace investment advice.
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