Ethereum has been the king of smart contract-capable blockchains since its inception in the 2010s.
However, several other EVM-like chains show up once in a while and challenge Ethereum's authority with amazing stats like NFT sales, network activity and short-term TVL increases.
In recent developments, it turns out that Solana is the latest contender to challenge Ethereum.
According to Messari, SOL managed to steal the spotlight from Ethereum in July.
What is even more impressive is how Solana managed to achieve this, despite how other chains declined. Let's take a look at what Messari had to say.
Keep in mind that Ethereum is still on top over longer timeframes, as far as most metrics go.
However, Solana's victory is impressive, considering that Ethereum is a much larger and older network. Yet SOL managed to best the king by adding an impressive 14% to its TVL in July, while other chains like Avalanche, Polkadot and even Ethereum itself were experiencing declines.
If you didn't know what DeFi TVL is, it stands for "Decentralized Finance Total Value Locked".
It is an indicator of how much money is invested in a blockchain's Decentralized Apps (or DApps). DApps (also known as DeFi protocols) enable users to trade, lend, and receive interest on their crypto holdings.
Recall that the DeFi market has been in a state of constant decline ever since the current bear market started in November 2021.
Solana's woes didn't even stop there. When FTX went under exactly a year after in November 2022, the cryptocurrency lost as much as 90% of its already declined price when it fell from around $40 to less than $10.
However, according to a recent tweet from the crypto market intelligence platform, Messari, SOL has recently experienced some extremely rapid development in TVL.
By gaining a total value-locked (TVL) increase of 14% over the previous month, SOL beat other chains and emerged at the top.
Is this a good sign that Solana is poised for another overtaking of Ethereum (even in terms of price)?
Let's check out:
Ever since Ethereum's break above $2,000 in April and its initial rejection from this zone, the cryptocurrency has been in an overextended consolidation.
From the chart above, it is clear that Ethereum is having a hard time breaking above the $2,000 zone again.
As it turns out, the bears even have the bulls pinned somewhere below $1,900.
The Bollinger bands are starting to tighten, and the RSI signal line remains perpetually below the neutral zone. This indicates that the bears may have a slightly stronger control of the market than the bulls.
Just like the rest of the market, Ethereum still sits atop an ascending trendline and is bullish from higher perspectives.
However, the Ethereum bulls are still at the mercy of the bears. And if the bulls fail to break above the $18,54 resistance, the bears may have them fully pinned as Ethereum falls straight down to $1,784 and then to $1,628.
Solana has been relatively impressive throughout this year.
After the initial massive drop from FTX's collapse, the cryptocurrency entered a correction phase between the $26,6 and $18.2 zones.
However, the bears soon caught up to the bulls, bringing the cryptocurrency down to the longer-term ascending trendline around ($13.76) as illustrated below.
However, the cryptocurrency soon got up, clearing the $22.39 resistance again and breaking through the middle Bollinger band on its daily chart.
As it turns out, the cryptocurrency's price has now entered a bounce off $22.39 and has a real chance of reclaiming $31.86 again, just like it did in mid-July.
The hurdle in front of Solana at this point, is the $26.7 resistance. Solana's RSI is also flashing a crossover between its MACD and RSI, indicating that Solana may indeed be headed for some very bullish days ahead.
However, it is worth mentioning that if the bears manage to pull Solana down below the $22.37 zone, they would have asserted their dominance, and will pull the cryptocurrency straight down to $16.
Disclaimer: Voice of Crypto aims to deliver accurate and up-to-date information, but it will not be responsible for any missing facts or inaccurate information. Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile financial assets, so research and make your own financial decisions.