Solana (SOL) rises almost 25% and aims for 200 dollars after strong boost in TVL and institutional demand.

The native token of Solana, SOL, surged by 24.8% between May 6 and May 10, 2025, driven by a widespread rally in the altcoin market following Bitcoin's breakout above 100,000 dollars. Although since then SOL has struggled to maintain above 180 dollars, derivative and on-chain data suggest there is still room for greater gains.

Currently, Solana is the fifth largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, but it also stands out as a vice-leader in key on-chain metrics, especially in total value locked (TVL).

With a TVL of 10.9 billion dollars, Solana surpasses the entire Ethereum ecosystem in layer 2, which includes networks like Base, Arbitrum, and Optimism. Even the BNB Chain, integrated with Binance and Trust Wallet, falls behind Solana in this indicator.

Growth in the DeFi sector does not always imply higher demand for the native token, especially in networks with extremely low fees. However, Solana has recorded solid revenue from fees. In the last 30 days, Ethereum generated 24.9 million dollars in fees on its base layer, Tron reached 51.9 million, and Solana recorded 43.3 million, according to DefiLlama.

Both the revenue from Solana's DApps and the fees on the network have shown steady growth over the past four weeks, approaching their highest levels in three months. This is a bullish signal for SOL, as it increases the demand for the token, especially considering that 65% of the SOL supply is staked, which reduces the available circulating supply.

It is still unclear what the definitive catalyst will be to take SOL to new highs, but the possible approval of a spot ETF for Solana in the U.S. as well as its inclusion in state strategic reserves of digital assets could significantly boost its value.