Key Developments Driving Solana's Rally
Solana’s price has experienced a significant rally, rising by 25% to reach its highest level since November 13th. The price surge comes as a result of key developments, including the upcoming Alpenglow upgrade and substantial inflows into Solana ETFs. The cryptocurrency’s price is on track to continue its upward momentum in the coming weeks.
The Impact of the Alpenglow Upgrade
One of the main drivers behind Solana’s recent surge is the highly anticipated Alpenglow upgrade. This upgrade is considered the most important protocol overhaul since Solana’s inception. The upgrade will replace the Proof-of-History and TowerBFT systems, which are expected to increase the network’s efficiency significantly. Transaction finality is set to decrease from 12.8 seconds to an impressive range of 100 to 150 milliseconds.
Votor and Rotor mechanisms will play the central role in realizing such speeds, where Votor will allow transacting at a higher speed, and Rotor will substitute Proof-of-History with a more advanced model. Such advancements make Solana one of the fastest blockchain networks of the crypto industry.
Heightened Network Activity and Expansion
The development of Solana is reflected in the number of transactions and active users. Network profile transactions through the network were over 977 million transactions, which is greater than 1.8 billion transactions in December. This exercise makes Solana higher than other blockchains in terms of volume of transactions. Also, there was a remarkable increase in the number of active addresses in the network and more than 67 million users in December.
Solana also had the highest charges in the industry since it received more than 18 million in transaction fees in December. The performance of the network, coupled with the forthcoming upgrade to an Alpenglow, can enable it to grow and be adopted further in the months ahead.
Institutional Interest Fuels SOL Price
Together with the technical advancement of the network, the price of Solana is improving due to the increasing institutional interest. Spot Solana ETFs have recorded more than 90 million inflows in their first month, and this has resulted in a total of 857 million. Such inflows are indicators of high confidence on the part of the institutional investors, which also increases the price and market momentum of SOL.
Bullish Technical Outlook for SOL
The technical analysis shows that the price of Solana is highly bullish, and the SOL/USD is at a vital level of psychological price of $150. The current upward pattern is a cup-and-handle pattern that indicates that the price will continue to move upwards, and the next important target will be at $200. Assuming that Solana stays on its positive path, the bullish trend can be expected to persist throughout 2026, assuming that the prices do not fall below the support levels of major significance.