Solana’s price gains today coincide with the recovery of leading meme coins on its network and its increasing crypto market dominance. SOL’s $187 price rose today amid a modest recovery in the broader cryptocurrency market following sustained selling pressure. Specifically, on April 3, the price of SOL increased by approximately 5.75% to around $192. Thus, this cryptocurrency has outperformed the overall crypto market, which increased by 2.2% in the same period. Solana’s gains today are driven by recoveries in market value; in particular, it overlaps with viral meme coins like Dogwifhat (WIF) and Bonk (BONK).

In the last 24 hours, WIF and BONK increased by 5.4% and 1.3% respectively. Top meme coin gainers in the Solana ecosystem include startup Cat in the Dogs World (MEW) and Book of Meme (MEME), up 45% and 9.5% in the same period. Solana’s bulls have responded positively to the recent launch of meme coin projects on the blockchain; In particular, the latest Franklin Templeton study noted that these prank coins “have a strong association with their local networks.”

In theory, viral meme coin projects could potentially spark short-term interest in underlying blockchain networks. For example, Solana’s rival BNB Chain is even offering a $1 million bounty to attract meme coin developers to its layer one blockchain. Therefore, the recent surge in Solana-based meme coins is thought to be related to the explosion in the network’s Total Value Locked (TVL) value. It increased by 70% from the beginning of 2024 to date, reaching 23.78 million SOL on April 3.

Solana’s rise today also benefits from its increasing market strength against other cryptocurrencies. Notably, the Solana Dominance Index (SOL.D), the index by which SOL’s market capitalization is measured against the overall cryptocurrency market, rose 3.95% on April 3. The index has grown by 28% since the beginning of the year, indicating that capital flowing to Solana is increasing. Institutional investors have significantly contributed to Solana’s influence in the market, pouring almost $25 million into SOL-based investment funds in March, according to CoinShares’ weekly report. In contrast, Solana’s main competitor, Ethereum ETH at $3,316, suffered a withdrawal of $67.2 million.

From a technical perspective, Solana’s gains today came after the current ascending triangle formation rebounded from the lower trend line. According to traditional analysts, ascending triangles are considered a bullish continuation when they form during an uptrend. As of April 3, SOL’s bounce from the upper trend line of the triangle indicates a bounce to around $205 in the coming days, which is 8% higher than current price levels.

A break above the triangle’s upper trend line could push the price towards $250 in April, an increase of over 35% from current levels. Otherwise, the price could consolidate further within the triangle range and head towards $175.