Memecoins Up 95%, ADA, SOL, And DOT Follow With Strong Gains
In one of the most optimistic months of the year, asset manager and cryptocurrency exchange-traded fund (ETF) issuer VanEck has released a report highlighting the significant growth in the memecoin space and the rise of major cryptocurrencies such as Cardano (ADA) Notable performers include Solana (SOL), Polkadot (DOT) and Stellar (XLM).
Solana’s ecosystem thrives
According to van Eyck analyzeIn November, Solana achieved a 42% return and the SOL token hit an all-time high of $262. The growth was largely driven by a surge in on-chain transaction activity related to the memecoin, which led to a rally across the market, up 95% for the month.
This drove Solana’s revenue and Decentralized exchange (DEX) trading volume has reached unprecedented levels. In fact, Solana’s revenue in November was $177 million, double last month’s high of $74 million.
The craze has also benefited projects like Jito and Pump.fun, which generated $185 million and more than $92 million in revenue respectively.
Jito runs as an on-chain application and generates revenue through Maximum extraction value (MEV), derived from arbitrage opportunities generated during DEX transactions. Pump.fun, meanwhile, generates revenue directly from memecoin transactions, demonstrating the dual benefits of Solana’s vibrant ecosystem.
Solana’s success is further reflected by its wallet Phantom taking the top spot in Apple’s “Free Utility Apps” category and Robinhood’s recovery Sol Trade on its platform.
Additionally, popular non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace Magic Eden announced an upcoming token airdrop, which is expected to spur further on-chain transactions.
Cardano and Polkadot lead crypto altcoin rally
Cardano’s ADA was another project that performed well in November, achieving an impressive 201% growth. The rally is driven by off-chain development and speculation surrounding influence Cardano founderCharles Hoskinson shapes future cryptocurrency policy.
The price of ADA surged after Hoskinson announced the creation of a cryptocurrency policy office in Washington, DC.
Uptrend continues as Robinhood relists ADA Updates to Cardano’s governance structure, emphasizing on-chain decision-making by ADA holders. On-chain usage indicators mirrored Cardano’s price action, with total value locked (TVL) surging by 180% as various Cardano project tokens rose.
However, despite these gains, Cardano’s absolute numbers in stablecoin and daily DEX trading volumes remain modest compared to Ethereum (ETH), highlighting potential areas for growth.
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polka dotStocks that are often seen as underperformers in the cryptocurrency space also posted a surprising rebound in November. While its ecosystem has struggled with slow onboarding and technical challenges, recent developments, particularly that of Mythos Chain, the gaming blockchain that hosts popular games like NFL Rivals, have spurred interest.
Polkadot founder Gavin Wood also unveiled plans for a more agile architecture that would allow for enhanced interoperability and cloud-like services, which could put Polkadot in a favorable position relative to other crypto-assets such as Ethereum and Celestia.
In the decentralized finance (DeFi) space, major protocols such as Aave, Uniswap and Sky (formerly MakerDAO) have shown strength, with fees rising significantly and the market active.
Aave passed the $30 billion milestone in deposits, putting it among the banks with the largest deposits if it were a traditional institution. At the same time, the court’s favorable ruling on the legality of immutable smart contracts has supported Uniswap’s market position, which has stimulated a significant increase in its market capitalization.
As of this writing, SOL is trading at $236, up nearly 3% in the past 24 hours
Featured images from DALL-E, charts from TradingView.com
