Solana Nears Binance's $BNB Market Cap – Can $SOL Deliver?

Solana (SOL), currently the fifth largest cryptocurrency by market cap, is around $4 billion away from flipping Binance's native token BNB amid the Solana network's continuing strong performance. Can it rise above its ranking comrade soon?

Data from CoinGecko shows that SOL has a market value of $84.9 billion, while BNB is at $88.3 billion as of early Tuesday. The token is up by 4 % in the last 24 hours, as the cryptocurrency market has had a positive Monday, driven by Bitcoin's surge.

Holding the Green Line in the Last 2 Weeks

Solana's October performance hasn't been all good, especially in the first two weeks of the month. However, the last two weeks of the "Uptober" crypto season show that the token has done relatively well, holding the uptrend momentum despite some dips below $165.

In comparison, the token had a similar chart in September, with stagnancy during the first two weeks before picking up in the second half of the month to kickstart October on a positive note.

What's Been Pushing $SOL Higher?

Engagement and much activity within the Solana chain has helped drive SOL prices up in the past few weeks, but there have been other key drivers that may have gone unnoticed.

For instance, Standard Chartered projected earlier this month that Solana may climb 5x before the end of 2025 if Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump wins on Nov. 5. Many crypto users consider Trump as a "pro-crypto" politician, given his repeated public declarations of support for the industry.

The multinational bank's head of digital assets research, Geoff Kendrick, said he believes a Trump government will be more supportive of Solana and expects that a SOL exchange-traded fund (ETF) is more likely under the former president.

Aside from positive analyst outlooks, activity on the Solana network has been undeniably on the uptick in recent days. Last Monday, the trading volume on the blockchain hit nearly $1.7 billion, outperforming Ethereum and layer 2 solutions.

The Road to Toppling $BNB

Solana's chance of potentially toppling Binance's BNB from the Top 4 spot is apparent, especially if the Solana network keeps up the trading momentum and if a SOL ETF is approved in the U.S.

On the other hand, it appears BNB isn't going down without a fight. Binance's native coin's October chart shows a similar pattern to that of SOL, and the token has been up by nearly 3% in the last day.