• Solana beat XRP to be the fifth largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, early on Wednesday. 
• SOL ecosystem recently generated high activity and interest among market participants with new projects and airdrops. 
• SOL price rallied over 5% on the day, sustained above $76.

Solana observed a spike in its volume between October 30 and December 19, as participants are attracted to the SOL ecosystem for the airdrops from Solana-based projects. Based on on-chain data Solana’s social dominance is close to six-month high, another sign of the project’s relevance among traders.

The Ethereum-killer temporarily replaced XRP as the fifth largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, according to CoinGecko data. Crypto experts believe SOL price is likely to witness a second rally this cycle.

Solana surpassed XRP, ranked fifth largest asset by market capitalization

• Post the July 13 ruling by Judge Torres in the SEC v. Ripple lawsuit, XRP’s market capitalization made a recovery and the asset regained its spot as the fifth largest asset.
• The recent activities in the SOL ecosystem fueled gains in the altcoin and aided Solana’s move to displace XRP.

Solana ranks 5th among cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. Source: CoinGecko 

• At the time of writing, SOL and XRP are neck and neck in their market capitalization. While SOL’s gains are driven by catalysts like airdrops in Solana-based projects and the Solana Saga Phone, XRP’s gains are influenced by bullish announcements from Ripple and positive news related to the SEC v. Ripple lawsuit.
• Solana’s on-chain metrics, like SOL volume and social dominance support the asset’s recent gains and its rising market cap.
• SOL volume shows spikes between October 30 and December 19, and it increased alongside the SOL price rally, as seen in the Santiment chart below.

SOL volume and price. Source: Santiment. 

• Solana’s social dominance is nearing its six-month peak as market participants engage in discussions related to SOL, across social media platforms like X.

SOL social dominance and price. Source: Santiment. 

Analysts predict Solana is gearing up for second rally

Crypto analyst behind the Twitter handle @CryptoJelleNL evaluated the Solana price chart and observed that SOL price is pushing towards a breakout on the weekly chart. The analyst believes SOL price is ready for another rally, with $100 as the target for Solana.

SOL/USDT price chart  Source: CryptoJelleNL’s tweet on X

At the time of writing, SOL price is $77.80 on Binance. The asset yielded 13% weekly and 6% daily gains for holders in its uptrend.