Cryptocurrencies continued their bounce from Monday lows on Wednesday, with layer-1 network Solana's token (SOL) being the fastest horse during the rebound.
The sharp relative move higher for SOL pushed it to an all-time high relative to ether (ETH) of 0.062, up 7.5% over the past 24 hours and 13.6% over the past week, according to CoinGecko. ETH also sunk to over a three-year low versus bitcoin (BTC), now more than reversing any relative gains since the SEC in May surprised nearly all by signaling its intent to approve spot ether ETFs.
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On the weekly timeframe that encompasses this weekend's market turmoil, SOL was the best performing asset among crypto majors in the CoinDesk 20 Index, down about 11%, while BTC and ETH are lower 14% and 25%, respectively.
"After the recent wipeout, SOL and its ecosystem of coins still look good, especially in comparison to other alts," David Zimmerman, analyst at K33 Research, wrote in a Wednesday report. "SOLETH has made a nice all-time high since the carnage, while SOLBTC also looks strong. Both closed green on the days of mass panic."
"Solana's resilience is largely driven by its strong fundamentals," U.K.-based digital asset investment firm Tagus Capital said in a Wednesday market update. "The platform's underlying strength is evident in key metrics such as the growth in active users, increased volumes on decentralized exchanges (DEXs) and overall ecosystem expansion."
One potential risk investors need to keep in mind is swirling rumors about market maker giant Jump Crypto shuttering its digital asset business, Zimmermann noted. Blockchain data observers noted crypto wallets linked to Jump sending ETH to exchanges this weekend and unstaking $500 million of ETH over the past two weeks. Notably, Jump was a key early supporter of the Solana ecosystem, and has been leading development of the network's highly anticipated Firedancer upgrade.
"Despite the uncertainty, SOL is showing strength and there is no need to overcomplicate things," Zimmerman said. "If looking for longs, SOL is a clear option."
The outperformance could continue, targeting potentially a 0.1 price ratio with ETH, a 80% upside, according to crypto research firm Delphi Digital's forecast earlier this year.
"(I) still think 0.1 is on the table," said Michael Rinko, research analyst at Delphi. "It would require some Q4 fireworks but it’s possible."
Edited by Stephen Alpher.
