Solana flirts with $100 despite rising competition – Can SOL unlock 20% more?

The crypto market extended its recovery into the weekend as Solana flirted with the $100 psychological level for the first time since February. 

On Saturday, the 22nd of August, the altcoin pumped an additional 6% and tagged $102.7 on Binance. If there is a daily candlestick close above $100, this would effectively confirm SOL’s breakout from the 2026 price range. 

If so, an additional 20% upside potential would be achievable if the next key target of $117 (50-week Moving Average, MA, white) is reached. 

However, if bulls are rejected at the range-high near $98, the sideways structure could be extended. With likely volatility ahead of next week’s Jackson Hole Symposium by the world’s top central bank heads, either scenario could play out. 

Analysts split on SOL’s outlook

On the long-term outlook, however, analysts have mixed feelings about the L1 altcoin and its key catalysts for the next bull run. 

For his part, Ryan Watkins, the founder of Syncracy Capital, projected that Solana’s fundamentals, including SOL’s tokenomics, will get better. He cited key inflation proposals and narratives (tokenization, stablecoin, etc). 

Fundamentals look great, and the value capture story will only improve with each passing quarter. Targeting much, much higher.

According to him, Solana’s revenue will likely grow by 2X or 4X in the next two years. He concluded that,

Think $SOL is about to make a big comeback and is the most asymmetric major over the next 6 – 18 months.

However, Jon Charbonneau, General Partner at another investment firm, DBA, countered that Hyperliquid and Pumpfun [PUMP] are better and cheaper alternatives. 

The challenge now is it’s just harder to buy SOL at $60bn when HYPE & PUMP are both cheaper, have stronger revenue/fundamentals, & are cleaner expressions together covering most of the SOL thesis but at the layer capturing more value.

Another analyst, Michael Nadeau, echoed a similar stance, noting that most of Solana’s economics comes from Pumpfun (memecoin launchpad). He discredited Solana’s perceived moat into the next cycle. 

Tokenization, prediction markets, stablecoins, and AI agents are some of the top narratives for the next cycle. But memecoin trading still dominates most of the chains. So, it may be too early to give up on Solana [SOL]. 

That said, the U.S. spot SOL ETF attracted $28.3M in weekly net inflows, one of the highest demand since May. If the institutional bid persists next week, the altcoin could reclaim $100.  

Final Summary

• Solana attempted to reclaim the $100 psychological level amid $28M ETF weekly demand
• Analysts are split over Solana’s moat and SOL’s value capture ahead of the next cycle