The competition between Ethereum and Solana has reached new heights.
SOL’s price surged past $170 yesterday, pushing the token to its highest value since July.
Meanwhile, ETH continues to sell off – and many traders are questioning whether Ethereum’s dominance is finally starting to crack under Solana’s pressure.
Solana Blockchain Battles Ethereum for Layer-1 Crown
Ethereum and Solana have been competing for years, but recent developments have brought their rivalry to a boiling point.
Since its launch in 2015, Ethereum has led the way in the world of smart contracts, driving innovation in DeFi, NFTs, and decentralized applications.
With its first-mover advantage and huge developer community, Ethereum seemed unbeatable – until now.
That’s where Solana comes in.
Launched in 2020, this high-speed blockchain initially faced issues with outages and reliability.
But by 2023, all that had changed.
Transaction volumes rocketed as meme coins and NFT projects moved to Solana, drawn by its super-fast transactions and low fees.
Even at peak activity, Solana can handle up to 65,000 transactions per second (TPS).
That’s exponentially higher than Ethereum’s 30 TPS.
The numbers speak for themselves: Solana’s daily active addresses have grown 1,557% since January, and its NFT trading volume recently passed Ethereum’s for the first time.
Data Shows Traders Are Abandoning ETH for SOL
The shift in sentiment from Ethereum to Solana isn’t just market chatter – real data backs it up.
Yesterday, the SOL/ETH trading pair reached an all-time high of 0.070, marking Solana’s strongest performance against Ethereum since it went live.
This momentum is also reflected in Bitcoin pairs – with SOL/BTC steadily gaining since mid-October.
Top crypto experts are taking notice.
Famous trader @ByzGeneral pointed out a “wild rotation” of capital moving from ETH to SOL, hinting that sentiment is shifting quickly.
Adding to the bearishness for Ethereum, Lookonchain data revealed a significant development.
Pretty wild rotation to $SOL here.
— Byzantine General (@ByzGeneral) October 24, 2024
Has the entire market actually just completely abandoned $ETH? pic.twitter.com/gduPd9sB5z
One Ethereum ICO whale sold 3,000 ETH worth $7.64 million.
The last time this whale liquidated a large amount (7,000 ETH in July), Ethereum’s price dropped 15% in the following weeks.
The signs are becoming clearer by the day.
With institutional investors and retail traders gravitating towards Solana, Ethereum’s dominance in the blockchain space seems to be slipping.
Early indicators suggest this trend could have lasting momentum.
It could even ramp up as new projects opt for Solana’s low-cost infrastructure instead of Ethereum’s congested network.
Could Meme Coins Outshine Ethereum & Solana in the Coming Months?
As Ethereum’s grip on the market loosens and Solana continues to gain momentum, another trend is building.
And it could overshadow both blockchains.
Market experts are increasingly pointing to signs of an upcoming “memecoin supercycle” that could pass even the explosive bull run of 2021.
Several factors are converging to set the stage.
Growing retail interest in meme coins, lower transaction fees on multiple chains, and the increasing influence of social media.
Historically, when major cryptos like Bitcoin begin to rise, capital also flows into smaller-cap tokens – especially meme coins.
Now that Bitcoin is holding steady above $67,000, the conditions seem perfect for another wave of retail demand.
Several projects are positioning themselves for this potential scenario.
Pepe Unchained (PEPU) is going viral with its $23 million presale raise and Layer-2 solution for meme coins.
Meanwhile, Flockerz (FLOCK) introduces a new “Vote-to-Earn” system through its Flocktopia DAO.
And Crypto All-Stars (STARS) is developing the first multi-chain meme coin staking platform.
These three projects represent a new breed of meme coins with real utility.
Plus, given that each is still in its presale phase, early investors have an opportunity to get in on the ground floor before mainstream attention hits.
So, while SOL and ETH battle for dominance, these meme coins could be better bets.
After all, history shows that the biggest gains often come from newcomers that catch investors by surprise.