Solana has scripted a remarkable financial turnaround, reaching a new all-time high (ATH) of $262. This milestone signifies a significant recovery, three years post its dramatic sell-off during the crypto bear market and the FTX exchange collapse.

Once touted as the "Ethereum killer," Solana is back in the industry spotlight. After leading the 2020-21 crypto bull market, SOL's value drastically plunged in the wake of FTX's collapse, overseen by Sam Bankman-Fried. Yet, over the past two years, Solana has staged an impressive resurgence.

Currently, SOL stands as the fourth-largest cryptocurrency, boasting a market cap exceeding $123 billion. It remains $8 billion short of surpassing Tether's USDT, with a notable market cap of $130 billion. Notably, only a 10% price increase could enable SOL to surpass USDT and secure the position as the third-largest digital asset. Such a development would see SOL trailing only Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). Given recent trends, surpassing USDT's market cap appears plausible by year’s end. In just three weeks, SOL's price surged 75%, from $148 on November 4 to $259 at present.

The broader crypto momentum, partly attributed to the victory of pro-crypto Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump, provides context, but doesn’t fully explain SOL’s rise.

Multiple factors underpin SOL’s astonishing ascendancy, spearheading heightened network adoption. A major catalyst has been the memecoin craze, pivotal in shaping last year’s crypto narratives. These tokens, particularly on Solana, have gained remarkable traction, pushing the total market cap of Solana-based memecoins past $10 billion by October. This drove Solana’s network activity, with a 42% month-over-month (MoM) spike in active addresses between September and October, totaling about 123 million addresses. Beyond memecoins, Solana has experienced a surge in decentralized finance (DeFi) activity. Data from DefiLlama ranks Solana’s DeFi ecosystem as the second-largest globally, with a total value locked (TVL) of $9.265 billion.

Additionally, the prospect of a Solana-based exchange-traded fund (ETF) is gaining traction. Reports suggest ongoing discussions between the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and asset managers about a potential spot Solana ETF.

While SOL's climb to a new ATH is commendable, experts suggest the token holds further potential for growth. Presently, SOL is trading at $259, marking a 6.2% increase in the last 24 hours.