The crypto market plunged as U.S. military strikes on Iranian nuclear sites sparked a wave of risk aversion. Will Solana’s Bull Flag Setup Materialize? According to market analyst Tektonic, “Solana is currently trading near $133.71 and testing the lower boundary of a descending channel — a structure often associated with bullish continuation patterns. After a sharp impulse move, the asset has been consolidating with lower highs, forming a classic bull flag setup.” The analyst added that a confirmation above the flag resistance would play an instrumental role in validating the bullish continuation with price action suggesting that the target was the $230 to $240 region. Meanwhile, Solana futures open interest recently hit $7.4 billion amid exchange-traded fund (ETF) rumors going through the roof. But how did Solana find itself below the psychological price of $135? Well, apart from the U.S. military strikes causing a sell off in the crypto market, traders became worried that even a temporary closure of the Strait of Hormuz could spike oil prices, fuel inflation, and delay Fed rate cuts—deepening the risk-off sentiment hammering crypto. Notably, direct waterway invasion might accelerate an altcoin sell-off because Bitcoin dominance typically surges in times of geopolitical unrest. Therefore, Solana will need to hold the $133 zone to avoid a drop to the $123 area with the Chaikin Money Flow (CMF) indicator already in bear territory. The CMF indicator shows the buying and selling pressure of an asset over a specific period, helping traders identify potential trend strength and reversals. A negative CMF illustrates selling pressure since bears are dominant, illustrating that Solana is not out of the woods yet. Why Solana Still Tops Blockchains in Active Addresses & Transactions Solana has firmly established itself as the most-used layer-1 blockchain globally in 2025, consistently surpassing competitors like Ethereum in both daily active addresses and transaction volume. Recent data shows Solana routinely reaching 2.7 to 5.6 million daily active addresses and processing an astonishing 85 to 109 million transactions per day—approximately 10× more active users and 80–100× more transactions than Ethereum mainnet.. One key driver? Blazing speed and ultra-low fees. Solana processes blocks in just 400–600 ms, with transaction costs as low as $0.00025—nearly free compared to Ethereum’s ~$0.05 per transaction . This combination makes it ideal for high-volume retail activity , including DeFi trading, NFT minting, and memecoin launches, where users can create and interact with smart contracts at minimal cost. Moreover, Solana’s ecosystem growth has fueled this surge. DeFi protocols on Solana host over $12 billion in total value locked (TVL), and decentralized exchanges (DEXs) regularly handle billions in daily trade volume—recently hitting nearly $3 billion over just 24 hours. Equally notable is social media traction: Solana sees around 45 million social engagements weekly, nearly double Ethereum’s tally. Network architecture also plays a major role. Unlike Ethereum’s monolithic proof‑of‑stake setup, Solana uses Proof‑of‑History + PBFT, enabling high throughput without sacrificing decentralization—the network supports over 1,400 mainnet validators and more than 5,000 nodes across 46 countries. The developer community—working in Rust and TypeScript—is further empowered by user‑friendly frameworks like Anchor and no‑code NFT tools, fostering rapid dApp deployment. Solana’s dominance is especially evident in comparative metrics: one weekly snapshot recorded 26.5 million active addresses in a single seven‑day window—outpacing chains like BNB, Tron, and Base by a landslide. And with monthly new addresses ranging from 100–150 million against Ethereum’s 3–5 million, it's clear that users are flocking to Solana. Of course, high activity doesn’t always equate to high value per address. Much of the volume stems from bot-driven interactions and micro-transactions. Yet this speculative energy—especially around memecoins—has catalyzed real adoption and thrilling on-chain commerce . Conclusion Solana’s combination of raw performance, low-cost access, developer momentum, and retail interest has propelled it to the top. It remains the go‑to blockchain for users seeking fast, cheap, and frictionless interaction—a clear leader in active addresses and transaction volume heading into the latter half of 2025. Nevertheless, Solana will need to dust itself off so that it builds notable momentum needed to reclaim the psychological prices of $150 and $200.
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