After a sluggish summer, Solana has returned to strong momentum. Currently trading at $243, the coin is up 20% from last week, with only Dogecoin outperforming it among the top 10 cryptocurrencies.

top 10 cryptocurrencies
Top 10 cryptocurrencies. Source Coinmarketcap

This bullish move is driven by strong fundamentals and rising institutional interest. Recent data shows that 17 Solana treasury firms now hold more than 10 million SOL, worth roughly $2.4 billion.

Galaxy Digital alone recently acquired nearly 5 million SOL valued at over $1.2 billion. The purchase is tied to Forward Industries, which aims to become the leading Solana strategy firm, following MicroStrategy’s model with Bitcoin.

Meanwhile, investors are eagerly awaiting the approval of Solana spot ETFs. While the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has recently delayed some applications, the probability of a 2025 launch is estimated at over 99% according to the decentralized betting platform Polymarket.

 

SOL-ETF-Quoten
SOL-ETF-Quoten, Screenshot of September 13, 2025 I Source Polymarket

Both spot ETFs and treasury firms could bring further multi-billion-dollar inflows into Solana over the coming weeks and months. Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise, expects a “spectacular year-end rally.”

Crypto chart analyst Ali Martinez is even more optimistic, pointing to a “cup-and-handle” pattern on Solana’s chart — a formation that has historically signaled strong breakouts. If this momentum holds, SOL could surge beyond $1,300, more than five times its current level.

However, the Solana blockchain continues to face criticism. One crypto developer highlighted a “fake it till you make it” approach, arguing that transaction volumes are heavily inflated by bot activity, casting doubt on whether the touted transactions-per-second figures reflect real scalability.