Elder AssetsWhere are we in the cycle?
Since the last halving that occurred in April 2024, Bitcoin (BTC) has risen approximately 90.72% up to the recent all-time high, from $64,647 to $123,091. It's true that since 2022, the asset has been in an upward trend, but the question everyone wants answered is: how long will BTC continue to rise in this cycle? Many have already declared the end of the cycle when the price reached its last peak near $112,000 and started to fall, but BTC's resilience has shown that the cycle is no...
Elder AssetsCurrent Market Analysis
After reaching its new all-time high (ATH) above $124K, Bitcoin (BTC) is going through a corrective phase. The last weekly candle closed at $117,590 after the ATH, and at the moment the price is below $113K. On the daily chart, there were already signs of exhaustion, showing that the price was heavily overbought. When it hit the new ATH, the price moved above the upper Bollinger Band, and the Relative Strength Index (RSI) was near 70, just like in the last ATH when the indicator was above tha...
@ElderAssets on X
Elder AssetsWhere are we in the cycle?
Since the last halving that occurred in April 2024, Bitcoin (BTC) has risen approximately 90.72% up to the recent all-time high, from $64,647 to $123,091. It's true that since 2022, the asset has been in an upward trend, but the question everyone wants answered is: how long will BTC continue to rise in this cycle? Many have already declared the end of the cycle when the price reached its last peak near $112,000 and started to fall, but BTC's resilience has shown that the cycle is no...
Elder AssetsCurrent Market Analysis
After reaching its new all-time high (ATH) above $124K, Bitcoin (BTC) is going through a corrective phase. The last weekly candle closed at $117,590 after the ATH, and at the moment the price is below $113K. On the daily chart, there were already signs of exhaustion, showing that the price was heavily overbought. When it hit the new ATH, the price moved above the upper Bollinger Band, and the Relative Strength Index (RSI) was near 70, just like in the last ATH when the indicator was above tha...
@ElderAssets on X
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Overview
Solana is a high-performance blockchain designed to support decentralized applications (dApps) with low latency and high throughput. Launched in 2020 by Anatoly Yakovenko (former Qualcomm engineer), Solana’s main differentiator compared to other L1s is its processing speed and low gas fees.
The blockchain can process between 3,500 and 4,000 transactions per second using two consensus mechanisms: Proof of Stake and Proof of History.
The Proof of Stake works similarly to other networks, where validators stake their SOL tokens to vouch for their reliability and honesty—otherwise, their tokens are burned.
The network’s innovation is Proof of History (PoH), which works like an incredibly precise digital clock within Solana’s blockchain. Imagine a sequence of mathematical challenges, each solvable only after the previous one is completed. This process creates a cryptographically secure and reliable timeline — a clear record of event order and passage of time, accessible to everyone.
The most ingenious aspect is how this allows Solana to achieve such high transaction processing speeds. Instead of validators having to reach consensus on event order, the PoH generator — acting as the network’s “timestamp” — provides a unique temporal reference. This lets validators focus solely on verifying transactions without having to arrange them chronologically.
In addition, Solana uses a system called Proof of Replication to store data securely. Think of it as creating verifiable digital copies of the blockchain. Specific nodes, known as replicators, must continuously prove that they are indeed storing the information they claim to — ensuring data integrity on the network.
MAIN USE CASES AND MARKETS WHERE SOLANA OPERATES
Solana’s ecosystem has grown significantly in recent years, with a diverse range of applications. Here are the main sectors where it has strong presence:
DeFi (Decentralized Finance)
Solana hosts several DeFi platforms, such as:
• Jupiter – DEX aggregator (similar to 1inch)
• Marinade Finance – Liquid staking
• Marginfi – Lending and yield farming
• Orca, Raydium, Meteora – High-liquidity DEXs Revenue: Swap fees, lending interest, incentivized liquidity
NFTs and Digital Culture
Despite initially losing ground to Ethereum, Solana has grown strongly in the NFT market:
• Magic Eden – NFT marketplace (one of the largest cross-chain today)
• Tensor – NFT trading-focused platform
• Degenerate Ape Academy, Mad Lads, SMB – Iconic Solana collections Revenue: Marketplace fees, artist royalties, primary sales
Gaming (Web3 Games)
Solana has become a leader in Web3 gaming due to its speed:
• Star Atlas – Space MMORPG
• Aurory – Competitive-focused RPG
• Ev.io – Browser-playable FPS
• Phantom Galaxies, Genopets – Other integrated games Revenue: NFT asset sales, in-game tokens, staking economy
Mobile and Payments
The Solana Mobile project introduced smartphones with direct blockchain integration:
• Saga Phone – Launched in 2023, with integrated Solana wallet
• Solana Pay – Instant, zero-fee payments using SOL or USDC Revenue: Future potential in micropayments and physical integration
Infrastructure and Data
• Helium Network – Decentralized telecom network, migrated to Solana
• Pyth Network – High-precision financial data oracle (Chainlink competitor) Revenue: Pay-per-use data services (Pyth, Helium)
STAKING OPPORTUNITIES ON SOLANA
Solana is a Proof of Stake blockchain, so staking is a core component of its operation.
How it works:
You “lock” your SOL tokens to help validate transactions and secure the network. In return, you receive periodic rewards.
Main methods:
1. Native (delegated) staking
o Delegate SOL to network validators
o Done via wallets like Phantom, Solflare
o Average APY: ~6–7%
2. Liquid staking
o Earn staking rewards without losing liquidity, using derivative tokens.
Marinade (mSOL) ~7% Avg. APY - One of the safest and most used
Jito (jSOL) ~7.5% Avg. APY - Distributes MEV (additional validator profit)
Lido (beta) (stSOL) ~6–7% Avg. APY - DeFi integration
These tokens (mSOL, jSOL) can be used in DeFi pools to boost yields. Currently, Jito (JitoSOL) has the highest TVL among LST protocols. Security is important — the amount of funds locked in a protocol is a good starting point for assessment since users are locking tokens in the project and the goal is never to lose capital.
You can also restake these tokens through projects like Fragmentic and Backpack. With this strategy, in addition to earning extra APY, you may speculate on two potential airdrops, further boosting returns with the same capital.
WHERE SOLANA’S REVENUE COMES FROM
Despite low fees, Solana generates revenue from multiple sources:
Transaction fees - Small fees on each operation
MEV (Maximal Extractable Value) - Profits validators earn from reordering transactions
DeFi activities - Swaps, lending, farming
NFTs - Royalties and marketplace fees
Staking - Portion of rewards goes to validators and delegators
Solana’s scalability enables revenue generation comparable to more expensive networks like Ethereum.
Market share in fee generation reached 16% in the past year.
In terms of user activity, Solana greatly surpasses Ethereum, largely due to lower fees. High demand balances the revenue and fee game.
Another relevant indicator is FDV/RA (Fully Diluted Valuation / Annualized Revenue), which measures how many times the asset is traded relative to revenue. Currently, Solana’s multiple is an impressive 2,109.2x, compared to Ethereum’s also impressive 1,945x — indicating strong asset price strength.
SUPPLY AND INFLATION
Token release is planned until 2036.
Current network inflation is around 36% and may increase.
Solana’s whitepaper predicts a gradual decrease in inflation to incentivize network participation, but a considerable amount is still set to enter circulation.
The only truly deflationary asset remains Bitcoin.
RISK FACTOR: PUMP.FUN AND MEMECOINS
A major red flag in Solana’s ecosystem is its large exposure to memecoins via Pump.fun. The platform specializes in the easy, instant creation of tokens — mostly memecoins — with low cost and minimal Web3 knowledge required.
Since launch, over 6 million meme tokens have entered circulation.
In January 2025, one of these — $TRUMP — caused a pump-and-dump effect on SOL’s price.
At launch, SOL’s price spiked above $290 due to high network activity to buy the memecoin. However, FOMO drove many investors to rotate capital from SOL to $TRUMP, quickly driving the price down.
Solscan data shows that Pump.fun has been the largest source of network volume in the past month, followed by Jupiter.
Risks:
Price dependency on market activity — In bullish times, high DEX volume can boost SOL’s price; in bear markets, liquidity outflows can lead to sharp declines.
Network dependency on a single platform — If Pump.fun suffers a serious hack, governance failure, or other issues, the impact could be severe not only for SOL’s price but also for Solana’s ecosystem health.
Thus, investors must be aware of what truly drives the network. Buying SOL also means exposure to the projects running on it. Diversification in crypto projects can be compared to traditional stock indexes like the S&P 500 — if NVIDIA has a bad day, the index feels the impact.
SUMMARY
🟢 Strengths:
• Extremely high scalability
• Very low cost
• Strong community support
• Advances in mobile and payments
• Growth in DeFi, gaming, and NFTs
🔴 Risks and challenges:
• Has faced network outages
• Strong competition (Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base)
• Relative centralization (limited number of validators)
• Volume concentration in specific projects
Did this content help you make better analyses? Help us improve and develop more by making a donation.
My goal is to take a course to become fluent in English and pursue a bachelor's degree in economics to bring even more knowledge to you. I need an average of $6.000 for this.
Wallet address: 0x3C410D81059bbadf663Bb69C4c7dF60362c546c9-
Overview
Solana is a high-performance blockchain designed to support decentralized applications (dApps) with low latency and high throughput. Launched in 2020 by Anatoly Yakovenko (former Qualcomm engineer), Solana’s main differentiator compared to other L1s is its processing speed and low gas fees.
The blockchain can process between 3,500 and 4,000 transactions per second using two consensus mechanisms: Proof of Stake and Proof of History.
The Proof of Stake works similarly to other networks, where validators stake their SOL tokens to vouch for their reliability and honesty—otherwise, their tokens are burned.
The network’s innovation is Proof of History (PoH), which works like an incredibly precise digital clock within Solana’s blockchain. Imagine a sequence of mathematical challenges, each solvable only after the previous one is completed. This process creates a cryptographically secure and reliable timeline — a clear record of event order and passage of time, accessible to everyone.
The most ingenious aspect is how this allows Solana to achieve such high transaction processing speeds. Instead of validators having to reach consensus on event order, the PoH generator — acting as the network’s “timestamp” — provides a unique temporal reference. This lets validators focus solely on verifying transactions without having to arrange them chronologically.
In addition, Solana uses a system called Proof of Replication to store data securely. Think of it as creating verifiable digital copies of the blockchain. Specific nodes, known as replicators, must continuously prove that they are indeed storing the information they claim to — ensuring data integrity on the network.
MAIN USE CASES AND MARKETS WHERE SOLANA OPERATES
Solana’s ecosystem has grown significantly in recent years, with a diverse range of applications. Here are the main sectors where it has strong presence:
DeFi (Decentralized Finance)
Solana hosts several DeFi platforms, such as:
• Jupiter – DEX aggregator (similar to 1inch)
• Marinade Finance – Liquid staking
• Marginfi – Lending and yield farming
• Orca, Raydium, Meteora – High-liquidity DEXs Revenue: Swap fees, lending interest, incentivized liquidity
NFTs and Digital Culture
Despite initially losing ground to Ethereum, Solana has grown strongly in the NFT market:
• Magic Eden – NFT marketplace (one of the largest cross-chain today)
• Tensor – NFT trading-focused platform
• Degenerate Ape Academy, Mad Lads, SMB – Iconic Solana collections Revenue: Marketplace fees, artist royalties, primary sales
Gaming (Web3 Games)
Solana has become a leader in Web3 gaming due to its speed:
• Star Atlas – Space MMORPG
• Aurory – Competitive-focused RPG
• Ev.io – Browser-playable FPS
• Phantom Galaxies, Genopets – Other integrated games Revenue: NFT asset sales, in-game tokens, staking economy
Mobile and Payments
The Solana Mobile project introduced smartphones with direct blockchain integration:
• Saga Phone – Launched in 2023, with integrated Solana wallet
• Solana Pay – Instant, zero-fee payments using SOL or USDC Revenue: Future potential in micropayments and physical integration
Infrastructure and Data
• Helium Network – Decentralized telecom network, migrated to Solana
• Pyth Network – High-precision financial data oracle (Chainlink competitor) Revenue: Pay-per-use data services (Pyth, Helium)
STAKING OPPORTUNITIES ON SOLANA
Solana is a Proof of Stake blockchain, so staking is a core component of its operation.
How it works:
You “lock” your SOL tokens to help validate transactions and secure the network. In return, you receive periodic rewards.
Main methods:
1. Native (delegated) staking
o Delegate SOL to network validators
o Done via wallets like Phantom, Solflare
o Average APY: ~6–7%
2. Liquid staking
o Earn staking rewards without losing liquidity, using derivative tokens.
Marinade (mSOL) ~7% Avg. APY - One of the safest and most used
Jito (jSOL) ~7.5% Avg. APY - Distributes MEV (additional validator profit)
Lido (beta) (stSOL) ~6–7% Avg. APY - DeFi integration
These tokens (mSOL, jSOL) can be used in DeFi pools to boost yields. Currently, Jito (JitoSOL) has the highest TVL among LST protocols. Security is important — the amount of funds locked in a protocol is a good starting point for assessment since users are locking tokens in the project and the goal is never to lose capital.
You can also restake these tokens through projects like Fragmentic and Backpack. With this strategy, in addition to earning extra APY, you may speculate on two potential airdrops, further boosting returns with the same capital.
WHERE SOLANA’S REVENUE COMES FROM
Despite low fees, Solana generates revenue from multiple sources:
Transaction fees - Small fees on each operation
MEV (Maximal Extractable Value) - Profits validators earn from reordering transactions
DeFi activities - Swaps, lending, farming
NFTs - Royalties and marketplace fees
Staking - Portion of rewards goes to validators and delegators
Solana’s scalability enables revenue generation comparable to more expensive networks like Ethereum.
Market share in fee generation reached 16% in the past year.
In terms of user activity, Solana greatly surpasses Ethereum, largely due to lower fees. High demand balances the revenue and fee game.
Another relevant indicator is FDV/RA (Fully Diluted Valuation / Annualized Revenue), which measures how many times the asset is traded relative to revenue. Currently, Solana’s multiple is an impressive 2,109.2x, compared to Ethereum’s also impressive 1,945x — indicating strong asset price strength.
SUPPLY AND INFLATION
Token release is planned until 2036.
Current network inflation is around 36% and may increase.
Solana’s whitepaper predicts a gradual decrease in inflation to incentivize network participation, but a considerable amount is still set to enter circulation.
The only truly deflationary asset remains Bitcoin.
RISK FACTOR: PUMP.FUN AND MEMECOINS
A major red flag in Solana’s ecosystem is its large exposure to memecoins via Pump.fun. The platform specializes in the easy, instant creation of tokens — mostly memecoins — with low cost and minimal Web3 knowledge required.
Since launch, over 6 million meme tokens have entered circulation.
In January 2025, one of these — $TRUMP — caused a pump-and-dump effect on SOL’s price.
At launch, SOL’s price spiked above $290 due to high network activity to buy the memecoin. However, FOMO drove many investors to rotate capital from SOL to $TRUMP, quickly driving the price down.
Solscan data shows that Pump.fun has been the largest source of network volume in the past month, followed by Jupiter.
Risks:
Price dependency on market activity — In bullish times, high DEX volume can boost SOL’s price; in bear markets, liquidity outflows can lead to sharp declines.
Network dependency on a single platform — If Pump.fun suffers a serious hack, governance failure, or other issues, the impact could be severe not only for SOL’s price but also for Solana’s ecosystem health.
Thus, investors must be aware of what truly drives the network. Buying SOL also means exposure to the projects running on it. Diversification in crypto projects can be compared to traditional stock indexes like the S&P 500 — if NVIDIA has a bad day, the index feels the impact.
SUMMARY
🟢 Strengths:
• Extremely high scalability
• Very low cost
• Strong community support
• Advances in mobile and payments
• Growth in DeFi, gaming, and NFTs
🔴 Risks and challenges:
• Has faced network outages
• Strong competition (Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base)
• Relative centralization (limited number of validators)
• Volume concentration in specific projects
Did this content help you make better analyses? Help us improve and develop more by making a donation.
My goal is to take a course to become fluent in English and pursue a bachelor's degree in economics to bring even more knowledge to you. I need an average of $6.000 for this.
Wallet address: 0x3C410D81059bbadf663Bb69C4c7dF60362c546c9-
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