Active Solana Wallets Rose 3X After FTX Crash

The Solana blockchain has surprisingly been on the rise all through crypto winter, with the network seeing a 3x rise in active wallet users. The rise in their daily active wallets rose even after the value of the network dipped sharply towards the end of 2022. Could the network single handedly ring in the crypto bull run?

Why are Solana (SOL) Wallets Growing Even in the Crypto Bear Market?

According to data from crypto data trackers Messari, the Solana network has tripled its number of daily wallet users since the FTX exchange fallout in late 2022. Pre-FTX and the start of the crypto exchange collapse, the daily active wallets on the network was below 40,000. As of today, the daily users of the network is around 120,000 and growing.

This explosion of new users coincide with a lot of market movements within the SOL ecosystem. There has been an influx of over $400 million in Solana. This has raised the price of the network from $12.45 to $13.29. This is a huge change from its low of $8.29 in the final days of 2022. In the last couple of weeks in December 2022, price of Solana (SOL) fell from $14.61 to $8.29. Surprisingly, in less than 10 days the price has bounced back to $13.29.

Brandon Tucker, growth lead at Marinade Finance (Solana’s largest protocol) says ““Investors are noticing that, in the wake of the FTX-Alameda fallout, Solana remains a dedicated and passionate community of builders and users. The level of power and influence of Sam Bankman-Fried and other VCs over the blockchain had been overblown and inaccurate for quite some time.” He further adds “Value and ownership are being transferred from these initial VCs to those who have stayed and continued to take advantage of the unique technological proposition Solana presents. To those watching the chain’s activity closely, Solana isn’t just healing: it’s growing stronger.”

The $BONK Effect

This unusual momentum in price can most probably be traced to the networks native meme token $BONK. Bonk is a dog-inspired meme token. Incidentally, it is also the first meme token to be created on Solana. It is termed as a “community coin” in the whitepaper. The token is to be used across many DApps on Solana. For example, the tokens meteoric rise has also led to its early adoption in many ecosystems within Solana.

Finally, within just 14 days of launch, Bonk has already seen around 50 integrations on the network. SOL/BONK to the moon?