How NFTs and DeFi Push Solana Into Top 10 Crypto List
  The latest moves in crypto markets, in context By the CoinDesk Markets Team Edited by Lawrence Lewitinn, Managing Editor, Global Capital Markets August 30, 2021 Sponsored by  (Price data as of August 30 @ 11:00 UTC) If you were forwarded this newsletter and would like to receive it, sign up here.
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Market Moves by Omkar Godbole Solana, Boosted by Move Into NFTs, Enters List of Top 10 Cryptocurrencies by Market Cap Solana's SOL token is now one of the biggest cryptocurrencies by market value, thanks to growing institutional interest and the boom in non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and decentralized finance (DeFi).
At the going price of $93, the token's market capitalization stands at $26.86 billion, or the ninth-largest in the crypto markets and ahead of polkadot's $25.7 billion, per data source Messari. The cryptocurrency's price hit a record high of $96 early today and has more than doubled since Aug. 15.
"Institutional demand for SOL has increased in recent weeks," crypto financial services firm Amber Group said in a Telegram chat with CoinDesk. On Tuesday, Osprey Funds registered the Osprey Solana Trust with the U.S. securities regulators in a bid to give wealthy investors access to the SOL token.
"Generally speaking, money has been flowing into Ethereum alternatives like Solana, Cosmos, Luna, and Avalanche," Amber Group said. The tokens of these smart contract platforms have each rallied by more than 80% against Ethereum's native coin ether over the past four weeks.
SOL picked up a strong bid two weeks ago after Solana forayed into the booming NFT space with the launch of Degenerate Ape Academy. It was a smash-hit debut, with a collection of 10,000 unique pictures of cartoon apes sold in the first ten minutes. That drove SOL higher as people needed to buy the cryptocurrency to purchase apes.
"Once people bought SOL and experienced the speed and low transaction costs for themselves, they got more bullish," Packy McCormick, the author of the Not Boring newsletter, noted in a recent essay titled Solana Summer.
Other developments such as real-time data feeder Pyth Network's debut on Solana's blockchain may have added to the token's positive momentum.
A continued boom in NFT could bring more gains for SOL. According to Amber Group, the theory of reflexivity or positive feedback loop appears to play in the NFT market. "There is a supply crisis and opacity of price discovery. So price bands are wide, and gap up appears to be the trend for now," Amber Group said.  Solana (SOL) daily chart (Source: TradingView) From a technical analysis standpoint, the path of least resistance for SOL is on the higher side, according to Bill Noble, chief technical analyst at Token Metrics, a cryptocurrency research company, said. "The next upside targets are $89 [already flipped into support] and $145," Noble told CoinDesk on Friday. "This is, of course, contingent on the overall market staying positive." ($145 is the 161.8% Fibonacci extension level.)
"Aside from a crash in the market, I don't think anything is going to stop this coin," Noble said. "Solana is probably going to be a big platform for both DeFi and NFTs." Katie Stockton, founder, and managing partner at Fairlead Strategies told CoinDesk in an email that charts show no signs of uptrend exhaustion, and further gains could be in the making.
Read the original story here: Solana, Boosted by Move Into NFTs, Enters List of Top 10 Cryptocurrencies by Market Cap
Technician's Take by Damanick Dantes, CMT  Bitcoin Holding Support; Stuck Below $50K Resistance Bitcoin (BTC, -1.43%) is consolidating after buyers took profits near the $50,000 resistance level last week. The cryptocurrency is holding support around $48,000 and is down 3% over the past seven days.
The breakout above $42,000 and $46,000 could keep buyers active at support, which should relieve some upside exhaustion signals on the charts.  Bitcoin four-hour price chart. (Source: TradingView)
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Disclaimer: The information presented in this message is intended as a news item that provides a brief summary of various events and developments that affect, or that might in the future affect, the value of one or more of the cryptocurrencies described above. The information contained in this message, and any information liked through the items contained herein, is not intended to provide sufficient information to form the basis for an investment decision. The information presented herein is accurate only as of its date, and it was not prepared by a research analyst or other investment professional. You should seek additional information regarding the merits and risks of investing in any cryptocurrency before deciding to purchase or sell any such instruments.
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