Popularity of Solana search queries hits a record high
- Solana Google search interest has surged to a record high.
- The blockchain continues to grow amid new protocols and associated airdrops.
From October to December, the number of Google searches for ‘Solana’ rose to peak levels.
According to Google Trends, in mid autumn the search-interest index stood at 34, and at present it is near its maximum levels—94.
Among similarly ‘super-popular’ blockchain-related search trends: meme-token BONK, DEX-aggregator Jupiter and NFT-marketplace Tesor.
Corresponding metrics for Bitcoin and Ethereum also rose, but not as actively as Solana.
«SOL price metrics were substantially higher than those of other assets, which likely attracted greater interest. Meme coins in the network have started to gain momentum recently», said analysts at The Block.
At the time of writing, SOL trades at $74, up 8% over the past 24 hours (CoinGecko). The token ranks sixth by market capitalization at $31.2 billion.
How the blockchain is evolving
In recent months, Solana has been growing rapidly thanks to new protocols that announce airdrops, and meme tokens that have regained popularity.
According to DeFi Llama, total value locked on the blockchain stands at $1.09 billion. The bulk is accounted for by staking protocols Marinade Finance ($806m) and Jito ($493m), as well as the lending platform marginfi ($297m).
Since the start of November, the number of active Solana addresses has grown by 240% — from 330,000 to 1.28 million.
According to Kaiko, the SOL/ETH price ratio has for the first time since 2021 reversed in favor of Solana.
$SOL is on a tear.
For the first time since 2021, the SOL/ETH price ratio saw a strong reversal as the Solana network recovers from the devastating collapse of FTX. pic.twitter.com/hAlCC23Yq0
— Kaiko (@KaikoData) December 19, 2023
18 December, Metaplex announced the launch of a new standard for immutable digital assets on Solana, analogous to Ordinals.
1/ Introducing Metaplex Inscriptions and Engravings, a new standard for fully on-chain and immutable digital assets on Solana ?
— Metaplex ? (@metaplex) December 18, 2023
«Metaplex Inscriptions позволяет хранить метаданные и медиафайлы актива на Solana, устраняя любые внешние предположения о доверии и открывая большую возможность компоновки атрибутов внутри цепочки и смарт-контрактов», — говорится в анонсе.
Solana also launched a test version of the GRASS protocol, which enables earning through network throughput. The platform provides a data-marketplace for companies to track displayed advertising.
In November, Jupiter, the ecosystem’s largest liquidity aggregator on decentralized exchanges, announced a retrodrop for early users.
Later, the project’s leadership stated that it did not intend to share proceeds from JUP swaps until user numbers grew tenfold.
3/ jup pic.twitter.com/sSf56LjxYv
— meow ? (@weremeow) December 18, 2023
Besides, developers plan to airdrop a substantial reward for owners of Solana’s Web3-Saga smartphone. Earlier, speculators began selling devices at inflated prices due to BONK hype.
In December, Circle added support for the euro-backed stablecoin EURC.