4 hours ago
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TLDR
- Solana pushes for Firedancer testing, aiming for improved transaction speeds up to 1M TPS
- Raydium launches perpetual futures beta with 70+ trading pairs and 40x leverage
- SOL price dropped below $190, falling 11% in 7 days despite whale accumulation
- Active addresses increased by 1.5M in 9 days showing network growth
- Jump Crypto’s Firedancer upgrade marks biggest test since development began in 2022
Solana’s development team is accelerating the testing phase of Firedancer, a major protocol upgrade designed to enhance the network’s transaction processing capabilities. The team has requested validators on the test network to implement Frankendancer, an early version of the upgrade, by the end of this week.
Jump Crypto, the development team behind Firedancer, began working on this upgrade in 2022 when the network faced stability challenges. The upgrade aims to achieve processing speeds of up to one million transactions per second, which would represent a substantial increase over current blockchain capabilities.
The price of SOL, Solana’s native token, has experienced downward pressure, dropping 11% over seven days to trade below $190. The decline occurred after the token failed to break through the $220 resistance level, leading to increased selling pressure.
SolanaSOL Price
Despite the price decline, on-chain metrics show growing network participation. The number of active addresses on Solana increased by 1.5 million over nine days in early January, indicating sustained user interest in the network.
Whale activity has shown a pattern of accumulation, with addresses holding at least 10,000 SOL increasing from 5,025 to 5,098 over five days. This follows a previous decline from 5,096 to 5,025 between December 28 and January 2.
In the DeFi sector, Raydium, Solana’s third-largest DeFi protocol, has launched a public beta for perpetual futures trading. The platform has integrated with Orderly Network to offer over 70 trading pairs with leverage up to 40x.
GM Radiators, BIG news!
Public Beta for Perpetual futures trading is now LIVE on Raydium, powered by @OrderlyNetwork 🚀
Raydium Perps offers Solana users gas-free trading and the lowest fees on over 70 pairs 😎
Check it out:https://t.co/w4VOE8J5zK
More info below 👇
1/4 pic.twitter.com/FByJbAB5my
— Raydium (@RaydiumProtocol) January 9, 2025
The new perpetual futures platform features competitive fee structures, with 0% maker fees and 0.025% taker fees during the beta period. Raydium currently maintains $2.2 billion in total value locked, positioning it behind Jito and Jupiter in Solana’s DeFi ecosystem.
Market data shows that DEX-based perpetual products have generated over $650 billion in trading volumes and more than $490 million in fees. Hyperliquid currently leads this market with a 46.3% share.
Technical indicators for SOL show key resistance levels at $228, $243, and $264. The token currently faces immediate resistance at $197, with support levels established at $186 and $175.
The Firedancer testing initiative represents the largest-scale trial of the upgrade to date. Validators are being encouraged to participate in the testing phase to ensure network stability and performance improvements.
The upgrade’s development has been viewed as crucial for Solana’s ability to compete in the broader blockchain market, particularly in attracting traditional financial markets to the platform.
Raydium’s expansion into perpetual futures leverages Solana’s infrastructure to provide gas-free trading and omni-chain liquidity. This places the protocol in direct competition with other platforms like Arkham, which launched similar products in November.
Current market conditions show a disconnect between network growth metrics and price action. While active addresses and whale accumulation suggest growing interest, these factors have not translated into upward price momentum.
The latest data indicates that Solana’s network continues to attract developer activity and protocol launches, even as the market processes price volatility.
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