Scaling Heights
Uptober is finally upon us. But as Bitcoin's price picked up, the real standout price action this month has once again come from Solana. The high-performance chain is the main hub for this cycle's biggest narrative: memecoin trading. Retail traders enjoy the speed, ease-of-use and 'straightforwardness' of Solana's trading experience. The fact that popular memecoin launchpads are on Solana just furthers this virtuous cycle. Recently, Solana's total volume has superseded that of Ethereum and of its Layer 2s combined. No wonder that Solana's year-to-date price performance has blown both ETH and even BTC out of the water.
This price movement also highlights another market development: the old paradigms are dead. Bitcoin's rallies were supposed to be followed by Ethereum and then by other Alts. If Ethereum underperformed, Alts were supposed to be absolutely crushed. Yet, the tides have turned entirely. Solana has continuously outperformed Ethereum in this cycle so far. Memecoins have been flying, regardless of Ethereum. Meanwhile, Bitcoin, driven by ETFs and institutional adoption, has continued to move in a 'weight class' of its own. The old paradigm is dead, long live the new one?
One of the main challenges for Ethereum in this cycle has been its inability to shape a strong, coherent narrative. While Solana's thesis can be broken down to 'fast casino = gud', Ethereum's complex roadmap, countless Layer 2s and even Layer 3s, and deeply technical conversations have turned away a lot of regular users. Undoubtedly, Ethereum continues to command a lot of developer mindshare. It also comes closest to institutional adoption for smart contract use-cases thanks to its technological maturity. Impressive technical progress is being made towards user-experience improvements such as account and chain abstraction which will make Ethereum easier, faster and better for all users. But if this can already translate into positive price action this cycle remains to be seen.
On the wider macro side, markets remain hopeful that a new breakthrough can finally happen to new Bitcoin all-time-highs. The upcoming US elections and continuing wars in Eastern Europe and the Middle East provide for both greed and despair among traders. A more pro-crypto administration post US elections and an end to the wars could ignite a firework. But right now events could turn either direction. For now, the markets are optimistic, yet also at the whim of a coin-flip. Happy trading everyone!
This price movement also highlights another market development: the old paradigms are dead. Bitcoin's rallies were supposed to be followed by Ethereum and then by other Alts. If Ethereum underperformed, Alts were supposed to be absolutely crushed. Yet, the tides have turned entirely. Solana has continuously outperformed Ethereum in this cycle so far. Memecoins have been flying, regardless of Ethereum. Meanwhile, Bitcoin, driven by ETFs and institutional adoption, has continued to move in a 'weight class' of its own. The old paradigm is dead, long live the new one?
One of the main challenges for Ethereum in this cycle has been its inability to shape a strong, coherent narrative. While Solana's thesis can be broken down to 'fast casino = gud', Ethereum's complex roadmap, countless Layer 2s and even Layer 3s, and deeply technical conversations have turned away a lot of regular users. Undoubtedly, Ethereum continues to command a lot of developer mindshare. It also comes closest to institutional adoption for smart contract use-cases thanks to its technological maturity. Impressive technical progress is being made towards user-experience improvements such as account and chain abstraction which will make Ethereum easier, faster and better for all users. But if this can already translate into positive price action this cycle remains to be seen.
On the wider macro side, markets remain hopeful that a new breakthrough can finally happen to new Bitcoin all-time-highs. The upcoming US elections and continuing wars in Eastern Europe and the Middle East provide for both greed and despair among traders. A more pro-crypto administration post US elections and an end to the wars could ignite a firework. But right now events could turn either direction. For now, the markets are optimistic, yet also at the whim of a coin-flip. Happy trading everyone!
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