Donald Trump's clear victory in the US presidential election provided a strong boost on the capital markets. Not only Wall Street rallied, the dollar also gained strength and yields on US government bonds made up ground. However, the highest premiums were seen in the crypto sector. Bitcoin initially jumped to a new high for the year and then broke through the 80,000 mark for the first time. The upward trend for Solana was even more rapid. The coin, which was launched in 2020, has risen by a whopping 30% since the election result was announced. With a market capitalization of more than USD 100 billion, the blockchain network is now in fourth place in the global crypto ranking. Despite the rally, the end of the road has not yet been reached.
In the short term, the election of Trump as the 47th President of the USA is the main argument in Solana's favor. During his election campaign, he positioned himself as the "crypto president" and assured the industry of his support. This applies on the one hand to the right to self-custody of digital assets and on the other to a relaxation of the regulatory environment. In addition, disadvantageous regulations could be lifted by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). For example, the so-called "in-kind method", which allows ETF shares to be exchanged for Bitcoin, is not yet permitted. In addition, the SAB 121 directive makes it difficult for financial service providers to hold crypto-assets on behalf of their clients due to balance sheet requirements. "Last but not least", the world's largest economy is planning to establish a Bitcoin reserve, which could send a signal to other countries. "The fact that cryptocurrencies have found such a place in the US election campaign underlines the importance the asset class has now achieved," summarizes analyst Timo Emden from Emden Research.
In the medium and long term, however, it is likely to be primarily technical factors that could make Solana shine in the future. The coin with the abbreviation SOL was created for fast, scalable and low-cost transactions and has established itself in decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and other blockchain-based applications since its launch around four years ago. Solana is particularly impressive with its high scalability. According to its own information, the platform can handle up to 65,000 transactions per second (TPS), making it one of the fastest blockchains around. For comparison: Ethereum achieves an average of around 12 to 15 TPS, while Bitcoin only processes around 6 to 8.
This high efficiency enables Solana to have extremely low transaction fees, which makes the platform particularly attractive for developers and users. Another key technical difference between Solana and other blockchains such as Ethereum or Bitcoin is the use of proof-of-history as a consensus algorithm. This ensures that all transactions are processed in the correct order.
The areas of application for the open source blockchain project are diverse. For example, numerous DeFi projects such as decentralized exchanges or credit platforms run on the blockchain. Thanks to the low transaction costs and high speed, the token also enjoys great popularity in the NFT sector. These include Magic Eden, Tensor and the most popular and widespread NFT marketplace OpenSea. Various blockchain-based games such as DeFi Land and SolaJump are also based on Solana.
Due to the increasing attractiveness of Solana, there have been rumors for months about a first Solana spot ETF. Applications for this have already been submitted by VanEck, 21Shares and Canary Capital. This would see the coin follow in the footsteps of Bitcoin and Ethereum, which have already received approval in the US this year. As there is likely to be a more crypto-friendly SEC chairman under the new US President Trump in the future, the approval process should also be much faster than for the two pioneers. Spot ETFs could lead to higher demand for Solana - and ultimately to rising prices.
To buy a crypto asset in general, a few preparations are required. First of all, you need a crypto exchange on which investors have to register. A wallet is then required to store the currency to ensure complete control over the digital currency. It is important to ensure that the chosen wallet is protected as well as possible against hacker attacks. It is much easier to invest in digital coins such as Solana with tried-and-tested tracker certificates. This allows investors to participate 1:1 in the development of the blockchain project without any major effort. Leonteq is the only issuer on SIX Structured Products to offer corresponding participation products in three currency tranches: CHF, USD and EUR. These all come with a management fee of 1.50% p.a.. In return, interested parties not only receive direct access to the fourth-largest crypto-asset Solana, but the financial product is also held securely in their own custody account as usual.