TL;DR

Solana (SOL) became the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap after recording significant price gains lately. Analysts predict a further rally, citing bullish patterns and increasing network usage.

SOL on the Run

The cryptocurrency market is well in the green today (July 29), with numerous leading digital assets charting substantial gains.

One example is Solana (SOL), the price of which price is up almost 5% daily, and it currently trades around $192. Its market capitalization reached almost $90 billion, a level last observed at the beginning of April.

SOL Market Cap, Source: CoinGecko The resurgence positioned SOL as the fourth-largest cryptocurrency, surpassing Binance Coin (BNB). The latters market cap was well above $90 billion but dropped below $87 billion in the past several hours.

There is no change in the top 3 list. Bitcoin (BTC) continues to be an undisputed leader with a market cap of almost $1.4 trillion, followed by Ethereum (ETH) with $405 billion. The stablecoin Tether (USDT) is on the third spot with a capitalization of approximately $114 billion.

Whats Next for SOL?

Several analysts believe that the tokens price rally is nowhere near its end. X user Jelle argued that SOLs current performance mirrors that one observed in the summer of 2021, which was later followed by a massive bull run to an all-time high of almost $260. 

Should be up only from here if it keeps playing out the same. My target? $600, the analyst said.

For their part, Captain Faibik claimed that SOL had confirmed a Bullish Pennant Upside Breakout on the weekly timeframe, meaning new impressive price peaks could be on the horizon before the end of this year. 

It is worth noting that total value locked (TVL) on Solana and on-chain trading volume have been on the rise lately. TVL, which refers to the amount of cryptocurrency assets staked, locked, or invested in the ecosystem, surpassed $5.5 billion recently. The uptrend generally indicates growing usage and adoption of the network and could be seen as a positive sign by investors.

Trading volume has been hovering around $2 billion in the past few days. The metrics uptick signals improved liquidity, increased demand, and positive market sentiment. This could lead to a more stable trading environment, attract additional market participants, and thus positively impact the SOL price.