When Standard Chartered, one of the world’s most respected financial institutions, predicts Solana (SOL) soaring to $275 by 2025 and an eye-popping $500 by 2029, the crypto world takes notice. This forecast is not just ambitious — it’s a statement that Solana could redefine the layer-1 blockchain landscape in the years ahead. But what’s behind this bold call, and is it realistic? What’s Behind Standard Chartered’s Prediction? The bank’s digital asset research team, led by Geoffrey Kendrick, has crafted a valuation model that goes beyond mere speculation. They see Solana as a blockchain currently undervalued relative to its application revenue, especially when compared to Ethereum and Cardano. While Solana’s recent boom has been fueled largely by memecoin trading a sector known for its volatility, Standard Chartered believes the network’s real potential lies in its technological edge and upcoming upgrades. Solana’s claim to fame has always been its blazing fast transaction speeds and incredibly low fees. These features have made it a magnet for high-frequency trading and memecoin activity, pushing the network to handle transaction volumes that few others can match. Yet, this heavy reliance on memecoins has been a double-edged sword. The bank warns that as memecoin hype fades, Solana must diversify its use cases to sustain growth. That’s where the upcoming network upgrades come into play. The much-anticipated Firedancer validator client, developed in partnership with Jump Crypto, promises to revolutionize Solana’s throughput, potentially enabling over a million transactions per second. Alongside this, doubling the block space and refining the consensus algorithm are expected to dramatically boost scalability and reliability. T hese technical improvements could pave the way for new applications in decentralized finance (DeFi), consumer apps, and even decentralized physical infrastructure (DePIN) — areas where Solana has yet to fully unlock its potential. Are $275–$500 for Solana Realistic? Comparing Solana’s forecast to Ethereum and Cardano reveals an intriguing picture. Ethereum, the undisputed leader in smart contracts, is projected to reach between $3,500 and $5,300 by 2025, and potentially soar to $10,900 by 2029. Cardano’s outlook is more conservative, with targets ranging from $1.21 to $3.07 in 2025 and up to $10.25 by 2030. Solana’s forecast, while aggressive, reflects confidence in its unique value proposition — speed, cost-efficiency, and a growing ecosystem. On-chain data lends some support to this optimism. Solana has maintained over 10 million active addresses for several months, hitting a record 11.12 million in March 2025. Network fee revenue surged to $25.7 million in Q1 2025, a staggering 320% year-over-year increase. Total value locked (TVL) on Solana climbed 54% since April, reaching $9.4 billion — second only to Ethereum among layer-1 blockchains. These figures suggest a vibrant and expanding user base, though skeptics caution that many addresses hold minimal balances, and much of the activity is driven by low-value transactions. Despite these successes, the path to $500 per SOL won’t be easy. The heavy dependence on memecoin trading raises questions about sustainability, and broader macroeconomic uncertainty remains. Even Standard Chartered tempers its enthusiasm by predicting that Solana will underperform Ethereum in the near term, with the ETH/SOL price ratio expected to rise before Solana’s broader utility takes hold. Ultimately, the bank’s forecast hinges on Solana’s ability to transition from a memecoin powerhouse to a foundational blockchain supporting diverse, high-value applications. If the Firedancer upgrade and other network improvements deliver as promised, and if institutional and developer interest continues to grow, the $275 and $500 price targets could move from bold predictions to plausible outcomes. For investors and enthusiasts, the coming years will be a critical test of Solana’s resilience and innovation. Watching how the network evolves, how its user base deepens, and how revenue streams diversify will be key to understanding whether this ambitious forecast can become reality.
