SOL, the native token of Solana, surged 13% in 24 hours following Robinhood Crypto’s announcement of a new staking product in Europe and marginfi’s introduction of Solana’s first Liquidity Layer.

At the time of writing, SOL is valued at $162.36, with a 24-hour trading volume of $4.25 billion, an increase of 80%. Currently ranked as the 5th largest cryptocurrency by market cap, SOL boasts a total market cap of $72.86 billion.

SOL Price Surge: Key Announcements

The recent surge in SOL’s price followed an announcement from Solana’s official account regarding a new product by Robinhood Crypto. The digital asset trading platform is launching a Solana-staking product in Europe, accompanied by a bonus program for new customers.

“Robinhood Crypto customers can now stake their Solana holdings directly through the app, allowing them to earn rewards with the flexibility to unstake at any time,” the company stated.

Additionally, new customers can earn a 10% bonus on their net buys over their first 30 days on the platform, with bonuses paid out in USDC stablecoins.

Another potential factor for the price increase is a May 15 announcement from marginfi, a decentralized portfolio margining protocol for trading on Solana.

Introducing Solana’s First Liquidity Layer

Marginfi introduced Solana’s first Liquidity Layer, describing it as a new layer for DeFi. The platform offers three types of integrated, native yields:

  • Natural staking yield through LST, the highest-yielding lending dApp on Solana
  • Native token yield through mrgnlend, the first integrated stableswap in crypto
  • Native stablecoin yield through YBX, marginfi’s audited LST-backed stablecoin

Solana’s Growing Popularity

The latest surge in SOL comes as Franklin Templeton, an asset management firm, acknowledged Solana’s potential to become the third-largest cryptocurrency. The firm highlighted Solana’s scalability and low transaction fees, which have made it popular for meme tokens like Catwifhat, BONK, and WIF, all among the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market valuation.

Despite concerns over network outages, Solana officially surpassed Ethereum in maximum extractable value (MEV) for the first time on May 12. This achievement reinforced Solana’s reputation, outperforming its competitor in decentralized exchange volumes at various points this year.

Broader Crypto Market Trends

Meanwhile, the broader crypto market has also seen significant gains, rising 5.73% in the last day to reach a total market capitalization of $2.39 trillion. Bitcoin (BTC) is currently trading at $66,100, up 6.6% in the last 24 hours, while Ethereum (ETH) has increased by 3.7%, now trading at $3,017 per coin.

For more updates on the cryptocurrency market, explore the latest news on Global Crypto News.