Solana price rose to an intraday high above $41.00 on Friday as the crypto market registered some gains following a brutal start to the week.
The digital asset, which is ranked 9th among the largest cryptocurrencies with a market cap of $13.6 billion, surged from lows of $36.65 to hit $41.04 according to data from CoinGecko..
The cryptocurrency has experienced a bullish move over the week, with SOL/USD having traded at around $27.64 on 19 June.
Solana price jumps on Saga phone news
On Thursday June 23, Solana Labs, the platform behind the development of the Solana ecosystem, released a major reveal that coincided with SOL price going up.
The hot news concerned the launch of Saga, a flagship crypto-focused smartphone designed to help drive Web3 adoption, including the use of NFTs.
The news was a boost not just to Solana, but the wider crypto ecosystem, Alex Belets, the CEO of UniLayer Network, a L1 blockchain and interoperability platform, told CoinJournal.
Solana is attracting investors
While the current market conditions do not offer so much to smile about, Belets says Solana could be having a different story building up.
“It’s difficult to be bullish about any token in the current market, but Solana does continue to attract investor attention,” he added.
Positive news this definitely is for an industry that has seen so many negative headlines. However, Solana still has a big challenge that it must address – how to handle massive traffic that often ends with the network outages.
So while investors continue to bet big on the platform, Belets says one interesting thing to watch out for is “how developers tackle this critical issue in the face of a smartphone launch“
SOL/USD is nearly 10% up on the day at $40.12 (as of writing), while the upside has Solana trading more than 32% higher since its weekly low.
SOL trading volumes have also jumped, with 24-hour trading volume up by more than 13.6%. The market cap has increased by over 8% in the same period.
