Solana to Hit $300 Soon as ETF Race Heats Up After Grayscale Application

Key Insights:

• Grayscale has filed a Solana ETF with the SEC, becomes the third ETF issuer to file for SOL ETF.

• Solana recently emerged as a tough competitor to Ethereum despite little to no institutional support.

• SOL's top DEX Raydium gets very close to ETH's top DEX Uniswap in monthly volumes with a 3% market share difference.

• Solana has already beaten Ethereum in active user numbers.

• After an ETF, Solana is expected to cross $500 in the short term and $1000 in the medium term to long term (1 year).

Solana ETFs Coming Soon, Grayscale Becomes Fifth Applicant

After Bitwise, VanEck, 21Shares, and Canary Capital, Grayscale becomes the fifth applicant for a Solana ETF approval. Being a well-known name in ETF markets, Grayscale could easily amass a billion-plus valuation for its ETF, considering many retail investors would switch to it due to ease of access.

Grayscale is one of the most well-known ETF issuers and successfully runs the second-largest Bitcoin ETF ($20 billion) and the largest Ethereum ETF ($5.6 billion). Further, Grayscale's application could put pressure on the regulators, too, because of its reputation as an ETF heavyweight.

The Grayscale Solana Trust already manages $122 million in assets (SOL) in the gray markets.

VanEck predicted Solana ETFs to arrive in the markets in 2025.

ETFs Approval by Mid 2025 Could Take SOL Above $500

To date, there have been five Solana ETFs till date, by Bitwise, VanEck, 21Shares, Canary Capital, and now the latest one, Grayscale. The ETFs could see approval within the first half of May 2025 after the new Trump administration takes charge.

Trump has reportedly chosen a pro-crypto candidate, Paul Atkins, to lead the SEC. Paul was already the SEC chief during the Bush era.

Solana ETFs could allow users to invest in Solana without going through the complex process of self-custody. This would give Solana access to high liquidity from retail markets.

Bitcoin has already gone 300% higher than when its ETFs were first approved. Taking a clue from the Bitcoin ETFs, we assume the Solana ETF could easily help SOL cross $1000, considering the fact that the fastest approval could come around May 2025, and SOL could have reached $300 by then.

Solana Could Break $245 Resistance Soon Based on These Factors

At press time, Solana trades around $236 after encountering major resistance at $247 last week. Last month, on 22 Nov 2024, the price of SOL made a new ATH of $263.83.

Fundamental Factors

Solana has achieved a high rate of success with its DEX platforms, high-growth memecoin markets, on-chain DeFi protocols, and monthly user activity, all of which have contributed to its growth.

Solana's DEXs have been processing transactions on the same scale as Ethereum DEXs. Raydium, a top DEX on Solana, has a market share of 22% in DEX volumes as compared to Etheruem's Uniswap with a 25% market share.

Solana also has a very vibrant memecoin ecosystem. At present, SOL memecoins are worth around $20.5 billion. BONK, WIF and POPCAT are the largest memecoins on Solana. With new coins launching on SOL every day, new users are attracted to invest in those.

In terms of DeFi growth, Solana's TVL of $9.1 billion ranks third highest in DeFi markets after Ethereum and Tron. A mature DeFi market could provide stable growth to Solana's blockchain.

Finally, the number of users who visited Solana in October had crossed 120 million, much higher than Ethereum's 55 million. The total users for that month were around $200 million.

Combining these all with the high probability of an ETF approval, we could see $300 very soon, followed by the psychological mark of $500.

Technical Charts

Venture Charts on X.com show that Solana could soon be approaching a pivot point, from which its price could reach $300 to $400. Solana could encounter the pivot as soon as mid-December.

When Will $500 and $1000 Targets Arrive?

Solana could emerge as a cheaper alternative to Ethereum due to many factors. This is one of the core achievements it needs before the price proceeds any higher.

Despite Ethereum acting as the central blockchain in DeFi markets, it is insanely expensive, even when other blockchains are virtually free, like Solana, which charges around $0.04 per transaction.

Second, Solana DEXs are getting close to Ethereum in terms of the number of transactions processed. Solana's Raydium processed $77 billion worth of transactions between 1 and 25 November 2024, compared to $81 billion by Ethereum's top DEX Uniswap in the same period.

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