SOL continues to lead over ETH in performance year-to-date, starting 2025 with an 8% increase as investors closely watch for a potential Solana ETF.

As of January 2, 2025, Solana (SOL) is priced at $205.64, reflecting an 8.48% uptick in the last 24 hours. This rise comes after a brief consolidation, indicating restored investor trust and optimism.

SOL reached an intraday peak of $205.64 and a low of $187.82, demonstrating a robust recovery fueled by increased demand and favorable market sentiment regarding the proposed Solana exchange-traded fund.

The open interest in SOL futures contracts has surged to $3.42 billion, driven by an increase in investor activity.

Perpetual contracts dominate with $3.4 billion in open interest, while futures contracts make up $15.8 million.

In the last 24 hours, perpetual contracts saw a 10.67% rise, and futures contracts skyrocketed by 85.59%, contributing to an overall 10.87% increase in total open interest. Binance leads among crypto exchanges with $1.7 billion in open interest, followed by Bybit with $1.1 billion and OKX with $520.5 million.

On Binance, SOL’s price has experienced a 6.32% increase over the past 24 hours and a 6.96% rise over the past week. Both Coinbase and Kraken reported similar 24-hour increases of 6.34% and 6.28%, respectively. Binance also leads in trading volume, having traded 56.1k SOL/ETH pairs in the last day, followed by Coinbase and Kraken with 5.2k and 4.6k, respectively.

The swift rise in SOL’s price and open interest signals a growing investor optimism.

The 85.59% increase in open interest for SOL futures contracts indicates that more traders are wagering on SOL’s price trajectory. Open interest is typically associated with strong market movements and confidence, suggesting that market participants anticipate further upside for SOL. The prevalence of perpetual contracts shows traders are actively leveraging SOL’s price volatility through short-term strategies.

This trend highlights the relationship between rising speculative activity and fundamental interest, both of which are propelling SOL’s impressive performance.

Awawat, a trader and angel investor with APG Capital, shared an insightful visual representation of the current market trends around SOL.

Recently, SOL’s performance showcases burgeoning investor confidence, supported by strong backing of approximately $0.002156 in the SOL/BTC pairing and a stable consolidation phase indicating robustness against BTC.

The breakout in the SOL/ETH pairing highlights Solana’s renewed appeal as a viable investment choice amidst ETH’s relatively slower momentum, illustrating its competitive edge within the ecosystem.

SOL and ETH exhibit distinct technical designs, with SOL employing a unique Proof of History alongside Proof of Stake for expedited transactions, while Ethereum relies on Proof of Stake for increased scalability. SOL’s transaction fees are consistently minimal, averaging around $0.00025, unlike ETH’s variable gas fees.

ETH boasts a larger, established community and ecosystem, while SOL, albeit newer, is quickly expanding thanks to its speed and reduced costs, making it attractive for developers in DeFi, NFTs, and gaming sectors. These differences shape user experiences and use cases for each blockchain.

Moreover, speculation surrounding a SOL ETF approval by July 31, 2025, is gaining momentum. Platforms such as Polymarket have witnessed rising odds for such approval, with current probabilities soaring to about 65%, an increase from 50% earlier in the month.

The combined influences of whale accumulation, increasing adoption, and the rising open interest in SOL have all played a role in its ascent. However, there are still potential risks, including network stability concerns and regulatory scrutiny, which could affect market confidence.