SOL has been consistently outperforming ETH in 2025, starting the year with an impressive 8% surge as investors turn their attention to the possibility of a Solana ETF.
As of January 2, 2025, Solana (SOL) is priced at $205.64, reflecting an 8.48% rise in the last 24 hours. This increase follows a short consolidation period, highlighting a revival of investor confidence and optimism.
SOL reached a peak of $205.64 within the day and dipped to $187.82, indicating a notable recovery driven by heightened demand and positive market sentiment regarding the proposed Solana ETF.
The open interest for SOL futures contracts has surged to $3.42 billion, driven by increased investor activity.
Perpetual contracts dominate the market, accounting for $3.4 billion in open interest, while futures contracts make up $15.8 million.
In the last 24 hours, perpetual contracts rose by 10.67%, whereas futures contracts saw a remarkable increase of 85.59%, leading to an overall 10.87% growth in total open interest. Among crypto exchanges, Binance leads the way with $1.7 billion in open interest, followed closely by Bybit with $1.1 billion and OKX at $520.5 million.
At Binance, SOL’s price increased by 6.32% in the last 24 hours and saw a 6.96% gain over the past week. Coinbase and Kraken reported similar 24-hour upticks of 6.34% and 6.28%, respectively. Binance also leads in trading volume with 56.1k SOL/ETH pairs traded over the last day, while Coinbase and Kraken follow with 5.2k and 4.6k, respectively.
The significant growth in SOL’s price and open interest signifies increasing optimism among investors.
The 85.59% rise in open interest for SOL futures contracts indicates that more traders are speculating on SOL’s price movements. Open interest is often associated with strong market activity and confidence, suggesting that the market anticipates further gains for SOL. The predominance of perpetual contracts suggests traders are making the most of SOL’s price volatility through short-term strategies.
This trend highlights the relationship between increased speculative activity and fundamental interest, both of which are propelling SOL’s strong performance.
Awawat, a trader and angel investor at APG Capital, shared an insightful visual representation of the current SOL market movements.
The recent SOL performance reflects a rise in investor confidence, with robust support around $0.002156 in the SOL/BTC pair and a stable consolidation phase indicating stability against BTC.
The breakout in the SOL/ETH pair indicates Solana’s rise as a compelling investment option amidst ETH’s slower pace, highlighting its competitiveness within the ecosystem.
SOL and ETH have distinct technical frameworks, with SOL utilizing a unique Proof of History combined with Proof of Stake for expedited transactions, while Ethereum employs Proof of Stake for scalability. SOL’s transaction fees remain consistently low at around $0.00025, compared to ETH’s variable gas fees.
While ETH has a larger and more established community and ecosystem, SOL is quickly expanding due to its speed and low costs, attracting developers in DeFi, NFTs, and gaming sectors. These distinctions affect the user experience and use cases for each blockchain.
Moreover, speculation regarding a potential SOL ETF approval by July 31, 2025, is gaining momentum. Platforms such as Polymarket indicate increasing odds for this approval, with current probabilities at around 65%, up from 50% earlier this month.
The combined effects of whale accumulation, increasing adoption, and rising open interest positions in SOL have collectively contributed to its rise. Nonetheless, potential risks remain, including network stability concerns and regulatory scrutiny, which could influence market confidence.
