Solana's uptick was supported by strong network activity, with transactions reaching a reported 1.32 billion over the last week.
• According to a Morningstar report, analysts stated that macro factors are driving the rally in cryptocurrencies, rather than crypto market-specific catalysts.
• The report pointed to Jackson Hole as the next major catalyst for Bitcoin, with analysts watching for new Fed chair Kevin Warsh's comments for signals on monetary policy.
Solana (SOL) led gains among the top cryptocurrencies on Thursday, outperforming Bitcoin (BTC) and climbing to a six-month high, while analysts reportedly are eyeing the Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole symposium for the next potential catalyst.
Solana's price rallied 7.5% in the last 24 hours, to over $103, and was among the top trending tickers on Stocktwits at the time of writing. Meanwhile, Bitcoin's price gained 1.3% in the last 24 hours, trading at around $79,600 and struggling to recapture the $80,000 mark.
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However, Bitcoin has outperformed Solana over the past year, dropping around 30% in the last 12 months, while SOL has dropped 50%.
Solana last traded sustainably above $100 in February before sliding to between $60 and $70 range earlier in the year. It has since climbed about 35% over the past week, aided by network activity that hit a record 1.32 billion transactions between August 17 and 23 and new on-chain governance proposals aimed at tightening SOL's supply through faster disinflation and higher fee burns.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin has staged its strongest weekly rally since March 2023, climbing 23.6% last week and breaking through $80,000 for the first time since mid-May, according to a Morningstar report. However, the rally wasn't driven by the cryptocurrency market, but broader macroeconomic factors, James Butterfill, Head of Research at Coinshares, reportedly said.
According to Morningstar's report, analysts said the immediate catalyst was the U.S. Treasury's decision to at least double its buybacks of longer-maturity government bonds, from $2 billion to $4 billion a month, aimed at bringing down long-term yields that had surged to levels last seen in 2007.
André Dragosch, Head of Research Europe at Bitwise, called it the "major macro catalyst" in comments cited by Morningstar, pointing to a weaker dollar and a more accommodative fiscal stance.