Solana’s Price Next Move Tied To Its On-Chain Strength: Can The Network Deliver?

Solana’s price has delivered a slight rebound as the broader crypto market gradually shifts towards a bullish outlook. Although the price of SOL may be demonstrating strength once again, its future trajectory is largely tied to the performance of the leading network in the days ahead.

Network Performance Becomes The Key Catalyst For Solana’s Price

Following a slight bounce on Monday, Solana is back above the $140 price mark. However, on-chain data suggests that the altcoin is nearing a turning point where its next significant price change may depend more on how well its network functions going forward than on market sentiment.

This thesis was outlined by Santiment, a leading market intelligence and on-chain data platform, after examining the correlation between SOL’s current price movement and its network activity. With price spikes coinciding with reduced network activity, the focus is now on the blockchain’s ability to maintain that momentum.

Santiment highlighted that as ongoing market volatility cools off, the price of SOL experienced a leg up as high as $144, drawing dangerously close to breaking past its $145 resistance level. While the price remains below the key resistance level, the altcoin awaits its next major catalyst in order to clear this level.

According to the on-chain platform, this will mostly depend on whether SOL network growth can start to increase once more, drawing attention to its fading new wallet creation. Data shows that the number of new wallet addresses created in a weekly timeframe has dropped significantly over the last few weeks.

In contrast to the prior optimistic moments, when new addresses were generated at record rates, accompanied by soaring trading and meme-coin activity, the slowdown represents a significant change.

As of November 2024, the number of weekly wallet addresses created was approximately 30.2 million. Fast forward to today, and the figure has fallen sharply, sitting at about 7.3 million. This massive drop in wallet creation signals a growing cooling phase in user onboarding across the SOL network. 

SOL Maintaining Large Daily Transactions

New wallet addresses may have reduced significantly, but Solana’s transaction scale remains robust. Despite fluctuations in the overall market momentum, SOL maintains a remarkably high level of daily transactions, demonstrating the power of its network.

In a recent report from Solana Daily on the X platform, it was revealed that the network has persistently carried out more than 60 million transactions every day for the past 750 days. This consistency demonstrates the chain’s widespread use in Decentralized Finance (DeFi), Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), payments, and high-throughput applications that depend on its affordability and speed.

An interesting aspect of this growth is that the network has maintained zero uptime within the timeframe, reinforcing its position as a reliable hub for on-chain activity. Currently, Solana is supported by real usage rather than just speculative spikes, which increases network efficiency.