Cryptocurrency Solana is likely to again outperform both Bitcoin and Ethereum, the world’s two biggest digital currencies, in 2022, according to the CEO of a $12bn financial giant.
The bullish prediction from Nigel Green, chief executive and founder of deVere Group, one of the world’s largest independent financial advisory, asset management and fintech organisations, comes amid another sharp bearish dip for leading cryptocurrencies on Friday.
Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana were down around 5.7%, 6.8%, and 8.9% respectively over the previous 24 hours of trading.
Mr Green says: “End of the week trading was hit by negative sentiment of high-growth stocks, which went on to impact Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market cap which, in turn, weighed on the wider crypto market.
“Despite this current volatility, crypto investors who have consistently stayed in the market have generally had a positive year. Year-to-date Bitcoin is up 46%, Ether 376%, and Solana around 13,000%.
“Savvy investors – both retail and institutional – know that crypto is the future of money. In times of volatility, in which there are lower entry points to top up portfolios, they typically continue to drip-feed money into the digital assets market.”
He continues: “I’m confident that a key one to watch in 2022 is Solana, currently the fifth largest crypto by market cap. It started off the year trading at around $2, now it’s changing hands on the deVere Crypto app for about $200.
“It’s likely it will outperform both Bitcoin and Ethereum again next year.
“Why? Because of its masterful technology and its cost-effectiveness.”
Mr Green explains: “Solana is a blockchain platform that has superior high transaction speeds, processing over 2,500 transactions per second – main rival Ether’s is 15 – and at a lower cost and without compromising decentralisation.
“Like Ether, it supports smart contracts, which are algorithms that are designed to operate automatically based on predefined agreements on blockchain technology.
“This revolutionary tech will ultimately change the way almost all business and financial services are delivered in the future. As such, a growing number of decentralized finance (DeFi) applications are moving to Solana.
“They’re also attracted by the considerably cheaper fees compared to Ether, whose prices have exploded in recent months.”
In September, the Solana network went down for about 17 hours. At the time, on Twitter, Solana explained a large jump in transaction load to 400,000 per second overwhelmed the network.
“It’s a young network still and this was just a temporary glitch,” comments Nigel Green.
He concludes: “In-the-know investors are watching it with interest.
“There’s no reason why it shouldn’t again outperform headline grabbers Bitcoin and Ethereum next year if the current momentum continues.
“It’s a momentum driven by a booming DeFi space as retail investors seek alternative funding opportunities and institutional investors continue to pile in.
“2022 will be Solana’s breakout year.”