Solana’s native token saw am impressive increase in the past 24 hours despite wider market consolidation, exceeding $200. SOL is up 10.33% in the last 24 hours and is currently trading at $204.16 at press time, per CoinMarketCap.

Additionally, SOL boasts a market capitalization of over $90 billion, positioning it as the 4th largest crypto in the market.

On March 17, 2024, Solana hit past $200 mark for the first time since December 2021.

What Drives the Surge?

Notably, over the weekend, Solana’s network activity has surpassed that of Ethereum (ETH), thanks to SOL-based meme coins. Per DefiLlama, Solana’s total trading volume reached $3.52 billion, exceeding Ethereum’s daily volume by over $1.1 billion on March 16.

On Sunday, Solana-based BOOK OF MEME (BOME) token skyrocketed 322% in the last 24 hours. It has surpassed the $1 billion market cap mark with an impressive trading volume of $4.73 billion within a single day.

Another possible drive is attributed to Solana’s decentralized finance (DeFi) total value locked (TVL) in the past month. DefiLlama reported that the TVL has increased over 80%, marking the highest level in the past two years.

Solana Popularity in Google Trends Hit 100

In yet another significant move, the search popularity of ‘Solana’ keyword has recorded 100 in Google Trends. This marks the highest in the past five years.

“The second highest is the search popularity of 84 in early September 2021,” said blockchain online sleuth WuBlockchain.

Data shows that as the price of SOL exceeded US$200, the search popularity of the word Solana in Google Trends has reached 100, setting a record high value in the 5-year history. The second highest is the search popularity of 84 in early September 2021. https://t.co/Gu9LtnDK3n

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) March 18, 2024

However, this isn’t new to the cryptocurrency. In December 2023, search interest for Solana has vaulted to more than double search interest for Ethereum. The trend clearly indicated that investors are shifting their interests to SOL.

At the time, Google Trends data predicted that Solana’s search interest would soon get a score of 100. Per its definition, a value of 100 means “peak popularity for the term.”

As the trend surges, Lookonchain reported that large investors are capitalizing on profits by selling their SOL holdings.

“As the price of SOL rises, whales begin to sell SOL to make profits.”

As the price of $SOL rises, whales begin to sell $SOL to make profits.

Whale”BU6N2Z” deposited 200K $SOL($39.85M) into #Binance in the past 2 days.

He still holds 1.62M $SOL($323M), of which 387K $SOL($77M) in wallet and 1.23M $SOL($246M) is staked.https://t.co/BUEnAJEElb pic.twitter.com/W2Et6Kviaz

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) March 18, 2024

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