Blockchain platform Solana commemorates its fifth year in the crypto industry since launching in 2020. So far, the network has processed close to $410 billion worth of transactions with a little over 1300 validators. Not to mention, the ecosystem also boasts impressive DEX trading volumes, almost surpassing $1 trillion . Solana’s Gokal encourages the crypto community to launch their own tokens In an X post on March 16, Solana acknowledged its developers and founders who worked hard to build the network and even suggested that the platform has more projects lined up for the crypto community. Co-founder Raj Gokal also commented, leaning towards encouraging developers to introduce their own tokens. He stated, “If we could launch then, you can launch now.” Gokal recalled what was happening on planet Earth at this time five years ago, when everyone around the world was on lockdown and projects, especially crypto, were being cancelled one by one. Anatoly Yakovenko, Solana’s co-founder, also joined in the celebration, wishing all the platform’s enthusiasts worldwide a happy Solana 0 block day. Yakovenko also said that everything was going according to plan, and looking at the characteristics of SOL as a blockchain, few people would argue with this. Solana’s ecosystem still has over $8.5 billion in total value locked in DeFi protocols, having handled more than $408 billion in transactions. Moreover, the network’s fees and revenues are more than double that of Ethereum, and the SOL token has just over $65.5 billion in market cap. SOL could surge past the $300 mark in September 2025 Solana’s price has been under pressure, plunging from $180 in February to current levels below $140. The token’s price slid slightly by 5.67% in the last 24 hours, trading at only $126.83 . The futures market provides a similar snapshot. Funding rates on SOL perpetual futures have been negative for three days, and short sellers are currently paying to hold their positions — an indication of little demand for leveraged long positions. Perhaps more worrying, accumulation has stalled. The total number of Solana wallets holding at least 10,000 SOL fell from 5,053 to 5,023, a signal some large investors may be cashing out or reducing exposure. Analysts believe that SOL has enough room to recover despite steps taken down in the last few days. They even forecast a 10% surge over the next month and a new record by the end of the year. Experts also expect the token’s price to range between $127.50 and $150.14 and have an ROI of 12.76% in the three-month period ending June. They even estimate the token’s average price of $135.99. Some even project that the asset will be trading far above $300 by September 2025. On the other hand, some have estimated prices to oscillate at somewhere between $235.73 and $311.32, with an ROI of at least 133%. Firedancer upgrade set to boost Solana’s speed and stability The next major milestone for Solana’s blockchain is expected to be the launch of Jump Crypto’s Firedancer client—an alternative high-performance validator designed to enhance the network’s transaction throughput and resilience against threats and outages. A testnet version and a prototype mainnet iteration called Frankendancer were introduced in September 2023. Though its launch was originally planned for the second quarter of 2024, Firedancer is widely expected to launch in full this year. Helius co-founder Mert Memtaz, a significant figure in the Solana community, predicted in December that Firedancer will go live “end of Q2.” The upgrade is expected to help Solana scale towards its goal of 1 million transactions per second (TPS). Meanwhile, Solana could also be approved for inclusion in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in 2024. According to The Block’s ETF tracking data, several asset managers have filed for Solana-based ETFs. Analysts have identified Solana—alongside Litecoin, Dogecoin, and XRP—as a strong contender for ETF approval. Cryptopolitan Academy: Tired of market swings? Learn how DeFi can help you build steady passive income. Register Now
