Solana and XRP See Gains Amid Market Fluctuations

Solana’s SOL and XRP (XRP) edged up 5% in the past 24 hours, leading gains among major cryptocurrencies on Saturday as Bitcoin (BTC) faced resistance at the $84,000 price level.

Solana (SOL) Rises 7%

SOL surged 7% following the contentious SIMD-0228 proposal’s close late Thursday, which was defeated, maintaining its current inflation schedule. This voting had the highest turnout in Solana’s governance history. Opponents of the proposal argued that its passage could disrupt parts of Solana’s thriving DeFi ecosystem and dampen institutional interest.

XRP Gains Following Ripple News

XRP rose 5% after a strong week for Ripple Labs, which secured a payments license in the UAE and reportedly is close to resolving its long-running court case with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Memecoins See Volatility

Memecoins also gained traction on Friday, with pepecoin (PEPE), toshi (TOSHI), dogecoin (DOGE), and other meme tokens rising as much as 40%, offering some volatility for traders in an otherwise flat market.

TOSHI led the gains with a 38% jump, while PEPE was up as much as 12% before trimming gains in the European afternoon. Also, Base-based KEYCAT surged over 100% following a partnership announcement with Acheron Trading for enhanced liquidity and exchange presence.

Market Overview

The broader memecoin rally indicates a shift in trader behavior as BTC trades sideways, leading speculators toward higher-risk, higher-reward assets.

BTC ended the week down 3%, showing slightly better performance than previous weeks, where extreme volatility saw it bounce between $75,000 and $95,000, down as much as 20% from a January peak above $108,000.

Traders remain focused on macroeconomic factors and potential rate cuts. Agne Linge, head of Growth at WeFi, indicated that cooling inflation strengthens cases for rate cuts later this year, yet ongoing geopolitical tensions could complicate the Federal Reserve’s policies.

Bitcoin Volatility

Bitcoin has faced intense price fluctuations over the last two weeks, trading between $79K and $85K amid macroeconomic uncertainty. This volatility suggests Bitcoin is behaving more like a risk-on asset rather than a traditional store of value.

Analyst Alex Kuptsikevich from FxPro urged traders to watch for a strong break above the $89,000 level for bullish signals, adding that current market dynamics reflect a bumpy downtrend, with bears regaining control around the $83,500 area.