Solana (SOL), Avalanche (AVAX) and dYdX produce double-digit gains as Bitcoin reclaims $37K

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Nov 17

On Nov. 15, several altcoins continued to show strength alongside Bitcoin (BTC), which notched an intra-day high at $37,400. Leading into the week, DYDX, Solana's SOL (SOL) and Avalanche's AVAX (AVAX) currently reflect double-digit gains, with each chasing after new year-to-date highs.

The sustained bullish price action from altcoins has led some analysts to declare the arrival of an altcoin season, and at the time of writing, the total market capitalization of the altcoin market has hit a 2023 high at $659.5 billion.

Altcoin price rallies typically involve a slew of factors, some being sentiment-based and others based on project fundamentals. Let's look at a few of this week's top market performers to see what catalysts underlie their growth.

dYdX fee switch boosts price

The platform behind the DYDX token is dYdX, a decentralized exchange that offers futures contracts on Ethereum Virtual Machine blockchain tokens like Ether (ETH). On Oct. 27, dYdX launched its layer-1 blockchain with the creation of its genesis block, which operates using native DYDX tokens. The launch allowed for the on-chain distribution of all fees received to validators and stakers. The protocol update has been fantastic for DYDX's price, sending it up over 110% in the past 30 days.

In addition to token price appreciation, the dYdX platform is posting substantial user numbers, including increased fees and revenues. Both metrics have witnessed 77.5% increases to $8.67 million in 30 days. Annualized, this could mean $105.5 million in fees for validators and stakers.

*DYDX fees and revenue. Source: TokenTerminal*

SOL price hits another 2023 high

Solana's SOL token has had an impressive 30-day return profile, gaining over 166%. Despite reaching a 2023 high on Nov. 10, Solana's price is still over 4x below its all-time high of $259.96.

Solana's price growth has been powered by an uptick in users, which is led by the top-performing decentralized application on the blockchain, Jito, a liquidity staking platform. Solana's daily active users also hit a 2023 high on Nov. 10, reaching 200,000. Coinciding with the increase in users, Solana's revenue has eclipsed $1 million in 30 days, recording a 78.2% increase.

*Solana daily active users and revenue. Source: TokenTerminal*

Avalanche's AVAX token picks up steam

Avalanche is a layer-1 blockchain similar to Solana, where validators process transactions and receive tokens. Compared with Solana and dYdX, Avalanche brings in less revenue, but that hasn't stopped its token from going on a double-digit run this week.

*dYdX, Solana and Avalanche fees. Source: TokenTerminal*

Despite being relatively smaller, AVAX has been performing well. In the past seven days, AVAX reached above 59% in gains, and it hit an impressive 118% growth in 30 days. AVAX's price is still more than 7x below its all-time high.

While these three altcoins are performing well, Bitcoin continues to dominate the overall market, with its dominance rate hovering above 50% since Oct. 16. When Bitcoin dominance decreases, those funds typically flow into altcoins, which is generally the start of an altseason.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.