Solana, Avax, Helium Led Digital Assets Gains This Year

layer-1 blockchain Solana (SOL) led the way in 2023 in terms of token price gains, with other altcoins Avalanche (AVAX), Stacks (STX) and Helium’s (HNT) following closely behind. The digital asset gains came as the largest cryptocurrency by market value, bitcoin (BTC), also witnessed a strong year amid growing optimism that spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) will be approved early in the new year. Solana, which began its sharp increase in mid-October, has gained over 700% since the start of the year. The rally was unaffected by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission naming the token among other cryptos as “unregistered securities,” in a complaint against cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase in June.
Solana also fared well despite its relationship with collapsed exchange FTX and its founder Sam Bankman-Fried, whose trial ended in November. Bankman-Fried was a prominent backer of Solana and acquired over $1 billion worth of the tokens through his companies Alameda Research and FTX.
Most of SOL’s gains came following the conclusion of the trial. The network has since seen increased growth in monthly active addresses and the launch of several memecoins including BONK, which was listed recently on crypto exchange Coinbase.
“There were real questions around Solana’s survival after the collapse of FTX, but it has instead thrived with increasing activity on the chain, a newfound appreciation for its innovative technology, and several high profile airdrops,” said Brian Rudick, a senior strategist at GSR.