Solana Price Prediction: Is $150 Next After Network Upgrade?

Solana (SOL) extended its bullish run on Thursday, climbing over 7% in 24 hours to trade around $136 following the successful deployment of its long-awaited “Firedancer” validator client upgrade. The new upgrade, developed by Jump Crypto, aims to dramatically improve network performance, scalability, and stability — key concerns that have long plagued Solana during periods of high demand.

The Firedancer client reportedly allows Solana to process more than one million transactions per second in testing environments, vastly outpacing Ethereum and other Layer-1 competitors. This technical leap has fueled investor confidence that Solana is positioning itself as the most scalable blockchain in the market. The mainnet rollout, which began earlier this week, is being hailed as a “game changer” by developers and validators alike.

Market analysts believe the momentum could push SOL past the $150 mark, a level not seen since early 2024. Technical indicators show strong bullish patterns, with trading volume rising sharply and the Relative Strength Index (RSI) nearing breakout territory. If SOL can maintain its current trajectory, some believe a run toward $180 could be within reach in Q3.

Investor sentiment around Solana has also been boosted by renewed interest in Solana-based DeFi and NFT activity. Top decentralized exchanges on Solana, such as Jupiter and Orca, have seen notable increases in user traffic and transaction volumes over the past week. Meanwhile, the total value locked (TVL) in Solana DeFi protocols has jumped to $3.2 billion, up 12% month-on-month.

Institutional activity appears to be quietly returning to Solana as well. Several major funds, including Pantera Capital and Multicoin, have reportedly increased their exposure to SOL in recent weeks, betting that the network’s infrastructure overhaul will attract a new wave of developers and users. This comes amid growing discussions around Solana’s potential role in tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) and AI-powered applications, areas that many believe could be the next big frontier for blockchain utility.

Despite the positive momentum, some traders remain cautious. Past network outages and concerns about decentralization continue to be brought up by critics. However, developers behind Firedancer argue that the client significantly reduces the risk of downtime and introduces greater redundancy to the network.

If current trends hold, Solana’s recent upgrade may mark the beginning of a new phase in its evolution — one that could see it rival Ethereum not just in speed, but in developer and institutional adoption. With momentum building, eyes are now on the $150 resistance level as the next big milestone.