Solana Flips Shiba to Regain Footing Post-FTX — Is MATIC Next?

Solana (SOL) is eyeing a return to the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market value — now trading only 25% below its price point recorded just before FTX imploded.

SOL sank more than 70% in the months following the Sam Bankman-Fried scandal, as markets rejected crypto associated with the disgraced alleged fraudster.

The trend had inspired markets to value memecoin shiba inu (SHIB) more than SOL for most of the past few months. 

Solana’s ecosystem meanwhile hoped to distance itself from Bankman-Fried, historically one of the network’s loudest proponents and primary backers.

But SOL had spent most of January well ahead of SHIB — now valued at more than $9 billion compared to SHIB’s $6.4 billion. 

SOL is currently whiskers shy of the top 10 by market cap, around $600 million short of polygon (MATIC) and $1.6 billion ahead of polkadot (DOT). The token sat ahead of both before its association with Bankman-Fried dragged it downward.

Solana has easily outperformed most top assets year to date, jumping from under $10 to nearly $24 — returning around 140%. 

Still, it’s lagging behind bellwethers bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) since the end of October (FTX would file for bankruptcy two weeks later). BTC is up 11% while ETH is flat.

MATIC, the native token of Polygon — considered a direct rival to Solana — is up nearly 19% over the same period.

SOL overtaking MATIC to regain its original position would effectively mark the end of Bankman-Fried’s influence over the network.

---

Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

• The Breakdown: Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily.
• 0xResearch: Alpha in your inbox. Think like an analyst.
• Empire: Crypto news and analysis to start your day.
• Forward Guidance: The intersection of crypto, macro and policy.
• The Drop: Apps, games, memes and more.
• Lightspeed: All things Solana.
• Supply Shock: Bitcoin, bitcoin, bitcoin.