Solana surge continues, now flipping Binance’s BNB in market cap

A strong 18% surge in the price of Solana (SOL $94) over the past 24 hours has boosted the cryptocurrency to the fourth spot in market capitalization — the first time it’s done so in over two years. 

The latest surge catapulted Solana’s market cap to $41.9 billion, overtaking Binance Chain’s BNB (BNB $268) market cap of $41.8 billion. SOL is currently priced at $98.40, up 18% on the day.

Only a day earlier, on Dec. 21, Solana had surpassed XRP (XRP $0.62) in market capitalization.

It comes as SOL gained over 30% in the past week, outperforming all other major cryptocurrencies in the same timeframe. 

However, despite the “ETH killer” moniker many of its supporters tout, Solana has a long way to go to catch up to Ethereum’s market cap of $269 billion.

Top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap. Source: CoinGecko

The last time Solana was in fourth place was in November 2021, according to CoinMarketCap. Back then, at the peak of the bull market cycle, it had a market cap of $75 billion but was still behind BNB at $108 billion.

However, the price of Solana closed out 2022 at just below $10, mainly due to its association with the defunct FTX exchange and former crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried. A year later, SOL has surged to almost $100, making it one of the year’s best-performing crypto assets.

Google Trends also shows a substantial increase in searches for Solana, which has almost closed in on searches for Ethereum in the United States. 

Solana vs. Ethereum search trends in the United States. Source: Google Trends

However, technical analysts have also warned of a potential major crash before the year ends.

On Dec. 21, the Solana team looked back on the year in its “Solana Solstice” celebration and annual review of events, which included Bonk (BONK) hype, the launch of the Saga mobile device, artificial intelligence integration and institutional partnerships.