TL;DR
- Solana’s Growth: Solana’s SOL token has seen a significant increase, with its price rising by 1,000% since January, surpassing other major cryptocurrencies in market capitalization and excelling in the NFT sector.
- Bitcoin’s Recovery: Bitcoin has recovered from its 2022 losses, hitting a yearly high and showing signs of a strong finish for the year, with historical patterns suggesting potential for further growth.
- Cardano’s Initiatives: Cardano has formed a partnership with Brazil’s Petrobras to conduct blockchain education workshops, continuing its global outreach efforts following earlier expansions in Africa.
Solana’s Uptrend Seems Unstoppable
The ongoing year has been highly successful for the cryptocurrency market (at least for now), with some assets launching real bull runs. One example is Solana’s native token – SOL – whose price has exploded by a whopping 1,000% since January 1, reaching a 20-month high of almost $125 on December 25 (per CoinGecko’s data).
In addition, the asset’s market capitalization briefly exceeded the $50 billion mark. Thus, SOL surpassed Ripple (XRP) and Binance Coin (BNB) to become the fourth-biggest coin in the entire realm.
One major factor that might play a crucial role in the impressive rally is the thriving Solana ecosystem. According to DefiLlama, trading volume on the blockchain protocol has been skyrocketing lately, standing close to $1 billion in most days since mid-December.Â
Solana has also been quite successful on the non-fungible token (NFT) stage. As revealed by CryptoSlam, Solana NFT sales volume has exceeded $85 million for the past seven days, surpassing the figures recorded by Ethereum for the same period ($75 million).
According to numerous experts, 2024 could be even more fruitful for the cryptocurrency industry, considering the upcoming Bitcoin halving in the spring and other potential events, such as the possible approval of a spot BTC ETF in the USA. That said, it would be interesting to follow whether SOL could spike higher in the near future.
Those willing to learn more about the halving, its specifics, and its possible implications for the market could take a look at our latest video below:
Is BTC Ready for a Final Sprint?
Another top performer in the crypto industry this year is undoubtedly Bitcoin. The primary digital asset managed to overcome most losses incurred during the devastating 2022, hitting a yearly high of over $44,000 earlier this month.
Despite the slight correction in the following days, some experts believe the asset hasn’t said its final word for 2023. According to Kaiko, it is poised for “a strong year-end” due to its excellent performance in Q4. The crypto data provider outlined that the only two times BTC had a better finish were in 2016 and 2020.
Recall that the price surge at the end of 2020 was followed by a massive rally in 2021, which took the asset to an all-time high of almost $70,000 in November.Â
Those curious to find out whether the BTC bull run has already begun, as well as which factors might be worth considering, could do so by watching our clip below:
Cardano’s Latest Collaboration
Last but not least, we will touch upon one more crypto project that has taken the main stage lately – Cardano. The entity that stands behind ADA recently teamed up with Brazil’s state-owned energy company Petrobras to lead blockchain education workshops for employees of the firm and present the main merits of the cryptocurrency sector.
The first 500 participants of Cardano’s education program will receive non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that highlight their achievements, whereas everyone who completes it will get a special certificate.Â
The partnership in Brazil comes a few years after the expansion in Africa. As CryptoPotato reported, Cardano rolled out educational services in Ethiopia in April 2021 to create a blockchain-based national ID system and inked another similar deal in Tanzania shortly after.
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