Recently, the price of Solana (SOL) increased by 20% between September 28 and October 6. Its rise was driven by the growth in the use of decentralized applications (Dapps) and the increase in the trading volume of non-fungible tokens (NFT). support. Solana’s price is now trying to establish support at $23 and consolidate its position as the fifth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization (excluding stablecoins), surpassing Cardano’s $9.22 billion.

Solana’s DApp and NFT market activity surged, with active addresses exceeding Ethereum’s active addresses during the same period, with a cap of 55,230. Solana is gaining traction in the NFT market for its cost-effective and scalable solution, allowing for more feasible high-volume production as they require lower minting fees, allowing creators to reach a wider audience.

Additionally, a potential driver of Solana’s recent 20% price increase is the network’s upgrade to version 1.16 on September 28, which introduced a “gate system” to ensure the gradual activation of new features on the network. This process helps maintain network stability and prevent problems caused by sudden changes. The update also brings greater efficiency, privacy and security to the Solana blockchain, marking an important milestone in its development.

However, while Solana continues to make progress on privacy, scaling, and security, external factors come into play outside of the FTX bankruptcy drama, making resistance at $23 harder to break than expected. Ultimately, investors remain primarily focused on the Ethereum ecosystem as it remains a leader in developing and integrating decentralized applications.