Solana’s SOL Highest Gainer Among Major Cryptos as Bitcoin Holds $47K

Solana’s SOL token led gains for crypto investors as the broader market remained flat on Thursday following strong momentum from earlier this week.

Ether (ETH) remained flat at the $3,400 mark alongside binance coins (BNB) and XRP. Avalanche’s AVAX token rose 7% as its first-ever developer and community conference drew to a close this week.

Crypto markets added 0.7% in the past 24 hours with strong growth in cryptocurrencies with a market capitalization between $1 billion and $5 billion. Zilliqa’s ZIL tokens surged 20%, growing 289% since last week, while IOST surged as much as 40%.

Some analysts said capital rotation to altcoins came as risk appetite returned among investors.

“There is a search for new ideas, away from institutional capital and the eyes of politicians,” said FxPro market analyst Alex Kuptsikevich in an email to CoinDesk. “There is an influx of stablecoins to centralized platforms, which may indicate the interest of investors in the upcoming purchases of cryptocurrencies.”

SOL lead gains among majors jumping 14% to $127 in the past 24 hours, a two-month high, near resistance at $130. Growth came as non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea – the biggest NFT marketplace by volume – said it would support Solana-based NFTs on its platform from April onward.

Bitcoin (BTC) held above the $47,000 mark as blockchain entity Luna Foundation Group (LFG) continued to bid on the asset. LFG seeks to purchase over $10 billion in bitcoin as a reserve for Terra’s UST stablecoin. It seeks to build a bitcoin-denominated reserve as an additional layer of security for UST, the fourth-largest stablecoin in circulation, as reported.

Price-charts show bitcoin continues to hold above its 200-day moving average at $47,200, building up strength ahead of a likely move to over $53,000, as per some traders. The decline in U.S. stocks on Wednesday after four days of growth also did not contribute to the positive dynamics, he added.

Futures on U.S. indices suggested mixed sentiment among traders ahead of Thursday’s open. Dow Jones dipped 0.04%, while technology-heavy Nasdaq rose 0.28%. Elsewhere, gold lost 0.23%, while crude oil dipped as much as 6%.