Since the creation of its genesis block on March 16, 2020, Solana has marked five years of growth. Born during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, this high-throughput, low-cost Layer-1 blockchain quickly became one of the most active networks by transaction volume in the crypto industry. Despite being hit hard by the bear market and the FTX collapse, which saw Solana’s price plummet by 96% from its all-time high, its ecosystem resilience drove a nearly 50x rebound in market capitalization post-2023. Now, with the U.S. announcing its inclusion in a digital asset strategic reserve, Solana’s price is once again in the spotlight.
Technological Breakthrough Amid the Pandemic
Solana’s origins can be traced back to the “Proof of History (PoH)” mechanism white paper proposed by Anatoly Yakovenko in 2017, but the actual mainnet launch coincided with the global epidemic lockdown in 2020. With the support of institutions such as Multicoin Capital, Solana has risen as an “Ethereum killer”, with a market value of up to $77.8 billion at the peak of the bull market in 2021. However, in 2022, the bear market and the FTX crash crisis caused Solana’s price to fall to $8.3, and its market value evaporated by 96%.
Ecological recovery and meme coin craze
Since 2023, Solana has made a strong comeback with the meme coin craze. Tokens such as Bonk and Dogwifhat have driven the ecological outbreak, and Solana’s price has risen accordingly. In early 2024, its market value soared from $3 billion to $140 billion, setting a historic rebound. The short-lived craze of Trump-themed meme coin (TRUMP) has pushed the total locked value of DeFi on the Solana chain to $14.2 billion, second only to Ethereum. Although the current price of Solana has fallen back to $128.17, down 56% from its historical high, its position as the third largest stablecoin network and the main battlefield of meme coins is difficult to shake.
Crypto Phones and Network Upgrades
Beyond ecosystem expansion, Solana has ventured into hardware innovation. The Saga crypto phone, launched in 2023, initially struggled due to performance concerns but saw a sales surge after a 30 million BONK airdrop. The subsequent Seeker model, priced at $500, attracted 140,000 pre-orders. Meanwhile, frequent network outages have spurred technical upgrades—Firedancer, an independent validator client, is set to launch on Solana’s mainnet in 2025, aiming to resolve congestion-related disruptions and provide long-term stability for Solana’s price.
A Future in the U.S. Strategic Reserve
On March 7, the Trump administration included Solana in its digital asset strategic reserve through an executive order, making it the youngest crypto asset on the list. Although the U.S. has not publicly disclosed holdings of Solana, this policy endorsement has injected confidence. If the reserve plan materializes, Solana’s price could undergo a new round of revaluation. Currently, with a market cap of $64.5 billion, Solana ranks as the sixth-largest cryptocurrency. Despite recent market sentiment dragging it down, its journey from a technical experiment to mainstream recognition over five years has laid the groundwork for the next phase of competition.
