Solana (SOL) price reached $143.50 on April 2 after an incredible 82% rally over a 20 day period. This positive performance can be attributed to recent NFT markets-related news and a marketwide bounce, but the current 22.7% decline could have investors confused.
Solana/USDT at FTX. Source: TradingViewThe rally started after Coinbase Wallet added support for SOL and other Solana-based blockchain tokens on March 18. The crypto exchange also outlined plans to "further integrate" with Solana by connecting the Coinbase Wallet with the decentralized applications (DApps) and nonfungible tokens (NFTs) hosted on the network.
The expectation of OpenSea's integration of the Solana network also excited investors. This means Solana will join Ethereum, Polygon and Klaytn as the payment options visible in the drop-down "all chains" tab on OpenSea's "rankings" page.
Solana's strategy to focus on NFT markets seems to have paid off because the layer-1 blockchain network has risen to third place all-time in total NFT sales on April 6. Moreover, the latest 30-day accumulated data shows Solana amassing $216 million worth of NFT sales.
Solana's DApp deposits are on the decline
Solana's primary decentralized application (DApp) metric started to display weakness in late March after the network's total value locked (TVL) dropped below SOL 50 million.
Solana network Total Value Locked, SOL. Source: DefiLlamaThe chart above shows how Solana's DApp deposits saw a 30% decrease in three weeks as the indicator reached its lowest level since Sept. 20, 2021. As a comparison, Terra's TVL increased by 34% year-to-date, while Fantom network deposits grew by 30%.
On the bright side, on April 5, Neon released an alpha version for the first Solana Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) cross-compatibility and scaling solution and on April 7, Solana announced that over 1.6 million network addresses currently hold an NFT.
A DeFi application stood out front the crowd
To confirm whether the TVL drop is concerning, one should analyze DApp usage metrics.
Solana DApps 30-day on-chain data. Source: DappRadarAs shown by DappRadar data on April 8, the number of Solana network addresses interacting with decentralized applications increased by 11% on average. Orca, a user-friendly decentralized exchange (DEX), was the absolute highlight, amassing 153,290 users.
Even though Solana's TVL has been hit the hardest compared to similar smart contract platforms, there is solid network use on DeFi and NFT marketplaces, as measured by Magic Eden's 212,230 active addresses in the last 30 days.
The data above suggests that Solana investors should not worry about the most recent correction. The Solana ecosystem is fueled by the delivery of important milestones toward Ethereum compatibility and NFT market integrations and as long as this happens the potential for further price appreciation seems likely.
