Solana Skyrockets 9% to $40 as Bitcoin Maintains $22K (Market Watch)

Bitcoin continued to register minor gains in the past 24 hours and charted yet another multi-week high above $22,500.

Solana has emerged as the top performer from the larger-cap altcoins, with a notable 9% increase to $40.

Bitcoin Saw Another Minor Peak

Ever since last week’s price dump to $18,500, bitcoin has been on a roll. It began by recovering to $19,000, where it stood for a few days, and even the ECB’s record-breaking interest rate hike didn’t push it south.

The end of the week brought even more positives for the bulls as bitcoin jumped above the coveted $20,000 line. The weekend saw another price increase, as this time, the asset pumped above $21,500.

After settling there for a while, the cryptocurrency began another offensive, breaking above $22,000 and even jumping to $22,600 in the past 24 hours. This became its highest price level since August 19.

As of now, it has retraced by a few hundred dollars but still stands north of $22,000. Its market cap is still above $425 billion, and its dominance over the altcoins has increased to 40%.

SOL Steals the Show

Most of the larger-cap alts are slightly in the red today, including Ethereum, which has been on a roll lately, perhaps fueled by the hype surrounding the upcoming Merge.

However, the second-largest cryptocurrency is down by around 2% in the past 24 hours to just over $1,700, despite the Merge coming closer and closer.

Binance Coin, Cardano, Polkadot, Shiba Inu, and Dogecoin are also slightly in the green from the larger-cap alts. In contrast, Ripple, Avalanche, and MATIC have increased by up to 5% daily.

Nevertheless, Solana has stolen the show from the larger caps with a massive 9% increase. As a result, SOL is close to breaking above $40.

The cumulative market cap of all crypto assets has remained north of $1.050 trillion, meaning the metric is up by around $150 billion in several days.