Solana (SOL) ticked higher on Sep. 13, mirroring similar upside moves in the broader cryptocurrency market, led by Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH).
On the daily chart, SOL's price gained over 4% to $39, its best level in 3 weeks. The token's intraday gains came as an extension of a prevailing uptrend that has seen its price gaining 30% in just 2 weeks.
SOL/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView
In comparison to Solana, Bitcoin and Ether underperformed, securing 16% and 22% gains in the same period. Let's look at the mix of fundamental and technicals that may have prompted SOL to rally higher.
Helium's merge with Solana
On Aug. 30, core developers behind the Helium Network, which offers decentralized wireless 5G network coverage by enabling users to become hotspots, announced a governance proposal to migrate to the Solana blockchain from its native chain.
The Helium developers cited their "need to improve operational efficiency and scalability" while seeing Solana as an ideal fit.
SOL is the staking and transaction payment token inside the Solana ecosystem.
SOL/USD weekly price chart. Source: TradingView
NFT boom
The latest buying period in the Solana market has also coincided with upticks in its nonfungible token (NFT) metrics.
Notably, volume across NFT marketplaces like OpenSea, Metaplex and Magic Eden reached nearly 1.2 million SOL (~$42.8 million) in the week ending Sept. 11, data tracked by Nansen shows. That further accompanied a rise in NFT transactions, hitting a record high of over 1 million in the same period.
The jump in Solana's activity appeared as a unique bright spot in the NFT sector that's otherwise seeing lower demand in recent months. For instance, the trading volume at the leading NFT marketplace OpenSea has seen a drastic decline.
Of all Solana NFT collections, the newly-launched "y00ts mint t00b" collection recently secured the most trading volume, with HyperSpace tallying the average figure at around $18.45 million per day.
SOL's technical bounce
From a technical perspective, SOL's 30% rally started after testing a historically significant support level.
SOL/USD has been consolidating sideways inside a range defined by two flat, parallel trendlines since May 23. A drop toward the lower trendline (support) has been typically followed by a 58%–60% bounce toward the upper trendline (resistance).
Related: Network outages have been Solana’s ‘curse,’ says co-founder
Similarly, a pullback from the upper trendline has seen SOL's price crashing toward the lower trendline, as shown below.
SOL/USD weekly price chart. Source: TradingView
With SOL rebounding, its path of least resistance appears to be toward the upper trendline near $47.50, up around 38% from current price levels.
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