Solana’s value has increased by 17% in the last seven days while falling by roughly 4% in the last 24 hours after reaching an all-time high of $260. According to Coinmarketcap, the ‘Ethereum Killer’ is now the fourth-largest cryptocurrency in the market, ahead of Cardano, which has slid to sixth place.
Solana flipped Cardano on November 2nd, and it has been on a ‘to the moon’ rising trajectory, aiming for Ether, the token that controls the Ethereum blockchain. However, the market valuation of the two companies is still $526 billion apart.
Despite this, investors and fans are becoming more certain that Solana will eventually overtake Ethereum as the preferred blockchain platform for smart contracts. Binance Coin, Ether, and Bitcoin are the only other cryptocurrencies that rank higher than Solana at the time of writing.
Solana’s stock has risen to $246.16 after its investment arm, Solana Ventures, unveiled a new $100 million fund to increase blockchain gaming in collaboration with Lightspeed Venture Partners and the derivatives exchange FTX, which just received $420 million, valuing it at $25 billion.
The funds will be utilized to assist gaming studios, technological businesses, and other ventures that combine “blockchain” with “gaming.”
Solana’s Connection To Blockchain Gaming
Solana’s appeal has waned in the age of decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible currencies (NFTs). It’s popular among developers who don’t want to cope with Ethereum’s fluctuating transaction fees, with Solana promoting itself as a more cost-effective and efficient option. It’s one of the main reasons Ethereum wants to upgrade to Ethereum 2.0 by the end of the year.
NFTs are also the connecting thread between the crypto and blockchain gaming worlds. To authenticate digital things, NFTs, like cryptocurrencies, use digital ledgers called blockchains.
Axie Infinity is a play-to-earn (P2E) blockchain game that is presently the world’s largest NFT project, valued at approximately $3 billion, according to CryptoSlam’s statistics. It’s not just Pokemon-like pets that have piqued developers’ interest. Spaceships, land plots, jetpacks, and other goods are among the game’s assets.
Solana Doubles Value On Blockchain Gaming
Although none of the gaming initiatives on Solana are nearly as large as Axie Infinity, Star Atlas, which aims to develop its own metaverse analogous to the Sandbox, is expected to outperform it.
Faraway, one of the world’s most well-known blockchain firms, has acquired $30 million in seed funding to build browser-based games on the Solana network. As the first live multiplayer game on Solana, it plans to launch its blockbuster browser-based game, Mini Royale: Nations, a first-person shooter.
According to Newzoo, a games and esports analytics business, the global gaming industry is presently worth $175 billion and is expected to reach $200 billion by 2023. In addition, blockchain gaming investments have been increasing.
According to data compiled by Invest Game, crypto gaming companies closed 24 deals in the first half of 2021, more than double the number of deals in the entire previous year, for a total value of $476 million.
Solana’s price could have more room to run and hit a new all-time high by the end of the year if demand for NFTs and DeFi continues to grow.
