 
 
- Solana recorded a couple of huge wins this week alongside the Helium migration to start the second quarter on high.
- NFTs on Solana remain a major driving force as daily transactions reach an all-time high, pushing its sales volume to 14% of the market share.
- The price of SOL has soared over 125% this year, trading at $22.1, leaving pundits with many speculations regarding its run.
Solana (SOL) bulls are in a frenzy following the launch of the first Web3-powered smartphone, which makes users acquire digital assets alongside minting non-fungible tokens (NFTs) effortlessly.
After the Saga smartphone launch, the community celebrated the Grayscale Solana Trust Shares trading, with its price reacting positively. Powered by the Solana blockchain, Saga has received a lot of good reviews in its first week on the market, although there has been slight talk about its $1,000 price.
Daily trading volumes of SOL are up to a little over $500 million in addition to the recent Grayscale Trust, which stands at $2.9 million in digital assets under management (AUM). SOL rose 29% to hit a monthly high of $26 before a price correction. This year, it has gained a significant 125%, wiping away sharp losses of last year caused by network downtimes.
As SOL continues to grow alongside the broader market, its NFTs volumes continue to surge significantly and are billed for more growth following the recent migration of Helium to its network with 991,000 NFT mints.
On the flip side, some pundits warn that the bullish outlook of SOL in price does not reflect in the derivatives market and may lead to further price correction in Q2 2023.
 
 
NFTs to the rescue
During last year’s turmoil, NFTs were a major driving force of SOL, described by many as ‘fueling DeFi on the network.” Daily NFT transactions of Solana have hit a record high this month, although other DeFi activities, including lending, staking, and decentralized exchange, continue to struggle.
Solana’s NFT market share has grown to 14% from 6% last year, trailing only Ethereum, according to a report from Delphi Digital. Its new NFT Compressor technology released this month makes it easier and cheaper to mint tokens creating more room for expansion.
The technology reduces the cost of minting a million NFTs to $110 and is undergoing tests with the Helium 991,000 NFT announcement. As NFT activities continue on an upward trajectory in Solana, it is still unlikely to see how it will push other DeFi metrics compared to similar networks.