Solana dominated the market in 2024 with an 86% rise, but can it repeat history in 2025?
Let’s take a look at Solana’s prospects going forward into next year, as well as an emerging Solana-linked project that could also be set for large growth.
Solana Innovation Continues to Turn Heads
Solana rallied in 2024 thanks to its vibrant meme coin ecosystem, pioneered by tokens like Dogwifhat and Bonk. It was then consolidated by the meme coin casino Pump.fun, which spawned hundreds of unique and innovative meme coins.
The most recent was Mira, a charity coin that raised millions for a father whose daughter was battling a rare form of brain tumor.
Beyond meme coins, Solana is at the forefront of crypto’s AI arms race. Ai16z leads the way with an AI-led decentralized VC firm that leverages data insights to make strategic investments. The project will also create its own AI agent launchpad in 2025, allowing users to deploy bespoke autonomous agents without coding.
Solana is also home to Griffain, an AI agent launchpad focused on trading bots. Reports show that users have deployed profitable AI agents using Griffain, sniping low-market-cap meme coins and generating big profits.
Blinks.gg is another emerging application of AI on Solana, allowing users to create digital assets using AI in seconds.
Solana’s infrastructure is also evolving rapidly. Solana Seeker is a hot topic. It’s a second-generation mobile with 150K preorders and will offer users an integrated and immersive Web3 experience.
The network is pioneering on multiple fronts, and its on-chain metrics show that.
Token Terminal data shows that Solana has booked the most foot traffic of any blockchain in the past 24 hours, with 4 million users.
It also has the second-highest TVL of any blockchain at $8.3 billion, only behind Ethereum.
SOL Will Smash $400 In 2024
Solana’s fundamentals are stacked. It’s the most active blockchain and continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in crypto. This ranges from its Pump.fun meme coin generator to its various AI protocols and flagship mobile.
The crypto market is currently in a bullish phase, and this is expected to continue throughout most of 2025.
Consequently, we can expect a bullish continuation for Solana, which should easily push it beyond $400.
Analyst Chris Burniske suggests a $1,000 SOL target is conservative for 2025.
This is also the long-term target of prominent Solana community member Ansem.
But Solana’s Growing Pains Mustn’t Be Overlooked
Despite its bullish outlook, Solana isn’t free from challenges.
The vast demand for its network is causing congestion issues, with up to 40% of non-vote transactions failing.
Solana has found a ceiling in terms of its ability to accommodate users and volume, suppressing its ability to continue to grow.
As such, competitors are gaining a bigger market share. Tron is creeping up in terms of user base and TVL. It currently has the second-largest user base and third-largest TVL in crypto.
Tron has also outperformed SOL this month with a 28% gain, while SOL is down 22%.
Meanwhile, Base network is outpacing Solana in AI development. Virtuals Protocol’s $3.5 billion market cap is bigger than Solana’s top three AI agent projects combined.
Investors are clearly worried that the SOL validator set has their hands full. They’re not placing all their eggs in one basket and diversifying as a result.
Nevertheless, Solana has the strongest network effect of any cryptocurrency. More users equals a stronger community, which creates a more robust launchpad for development and solutions to such problems.
Right now, we can see Solana’s network effect making a dent in real time. The first-ever Solana layer 2 network is under development and showing major strength. It’s called Solaxy and it’s currently undergoing a presale. Could it provide bigger gains than SOL in 2025?
How Far Can Solana’s First L2 Solaxy Go After ICO?
Solaxy is currently undergoing a fundraising round via a public presale. It has raised over $6 million so far, showing strong appeal among investors.
The project will be the first Solana layer 2 scaling solution, bundling transactions on a separate blockchain and reporting back to Solana for finality. This approach allows Solaxy to not only provide cheaper, faster, and more reliable transaction throughput but also retain Solana’s security and permanence.
By increasing Solana’s transactional capabilities, Solaxy creates a new opportunity for Solana to continue expanding and regain lost market share from Tron, Base, and other competitor blockchains.
https://twitter.com/SOLAXYTOKEN/status/1872342236085764315
The $SOLX token is key to all of this. It is used as the primary mode of value transfer inside the Solaxy layer 2 blockchain.
It can also be staked for passive rewards. Staking is live amid the presale and currently offers a 594% APY.
Solaxy is generating significant interest through robust token utility and an innovative approach to solving Solana’s most pressing issue.
Analyst Crypto June recently told his viewers on YouTube that $SOLX holds 100x potential.
Meanwhile, ClayBro recently said that a 10x price target would be “conservative” for $SOLX once it lists on the open market.
Investors can buy Solaxy at presale for $0.001582, but this price will rise throughout the ICO.