Since January, Solana has increased by more than 430 percent, from $10 to over $71 at the time of writing. Although SOL and the ecosystem as a whole have experienced significant growth in 2023, Saga, Solana’s mobile device, has not fared as well.
Internal deliberations regarding the future of Solana’s Web3 smartphone, Saga, have been prompted by disappointing sales, according to the company’s founder, Anatoly Yakovenko. Yakovenko speculated that Solana’s subsequent product could be a “smart wallet” with a reduced price if sales do not increase substantially.
BONK Airdrop breaks records
A screenshot depicting the percentage increase of BONK, a dog-themed coin developed by Solana, was recently shared by a prominent crypto influencer on X. The screenshot was captured using the Saga Book index, which monitors the value of Saga airdrops expressed as a percentage of the phone’s cost.
The phone was introduced in April at a price of $1000. It was accompanied by a $10 airdrop of BONK tokens. At that time, the price of BONK was approximately $0.0000004. This number is currently $0.00001154, which represents an enormous price increase of 10338.75%.
The substantial SOL price increase also coincides with significant progress in Solana’s DeFi ecosystem. Jito, the Solana-based DeFi network, began its much-anticipated airdrop on Thursday, delivering about $225 million in free tokens to Solana users worldwide.
The JTO token launched at $6.01 at the start of the airdrop at 11:00 a.m. EST, valuing the 90 million tokens intended for distribution at a significant $540.9 million. However, according to CoinGecko, the token’s value plunged 58% to $2.50.
At the moment of writing, Bonk (BONK) is trading at a price of $0.00001150, accompanied by a 24-hour trading volume of $185,673,275.65. This signifies a price surge of 31.26% over the last 24 hours and 186.80% over the last 7 days.
Solana price skyrockets
Solana, an Ethereum Layer-1 competitor, continues to make big gains, increasing by 15% and breaking the critical barrier at $71. Solana has extended its weekly gain to more than 18% and monthly rally to more than 65% under the strong bullish momentum.
Solana (SOL) is currently trading at $71.23 with a 24-hour trading volume of $4,151,180,755.60, according to CoinGecko. This is a 12.82% increase in the last 24 hours and a 16.88% increase in the last 7 days.
Current indicators, such as the Relative Strength Index (RSI) and Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD), are indicating bullish signals, which corresponds to optimistic expectations for Solana’s price to exceed $71.
Analysts foresee an additional 30% surge with a minimum price goal of $90 because the SOL price has already crossed critical resistance levels. In a message yesterday, Crypto analyst Ali Martinez predicted that a breakout above $68.2 might take $SOL above $90, but he also warned of potential profit-taking and a dip below $47 if $60 support fails.
In a message on social media site X (previously Twitter), crypto investor and BitMex exchange founder Arthur Hayes hinted at a $100 price objective, predicting a positive weekend for altcoins.
Saga mobile failure
When asked about the phone’s quality and performance, the crypto commentator on X replied, “it’s ok,” adding that it wasn’t the best value for money.
Saga was created to improve the Web3 mobile experience, but it has run into difficulties due to improved mobile interfaces on normal smartphones, which paradoxically make Web3 navigation easier.
Yakovenko admitted that Saga’s sales fell short of expectations while confessing to using Saga as his “NFT phone,” although he relies on his iPhone for day-to-day work.
Anatoly Yakovenko noted in an interview that developments in mobile interfaces, such as Progressive Web Apps and pass keys, have decreased the gap between specialized crypto devices and normal smartphones.
Overall, the entrepreneur was disheartened, citing the limited success of prior attempts by businesses ranging from major heavyweights like HTC to smaller ones like Sirin Labs to create crypto-focused smartphones.
