Solana [SOL] has faced a bearish trend over the past two weeks, last crossing the $200 mark around six months ago. As of now, SOL is trading at $145.

Despite the bearish trend, Solana experienced a 2% surge in the last 24 hours, a move that coincided with the listing of POPCAT on Binance and KuCoin.

On August 22, Binance launched perpetual contracts for POPCAT, a Solana-based memecoin, while KuCoin added a POPCAT/USDT trading pair to its spot market. Following these listings, POPCAT saw a surge of over 20%.

This raises the question: Could POPCAT be the next catalyst for Solana’s rise? Solana has often relied on its memecoins during volatile market periods.

POPCAT’s Rise on Solana Draws Investor Attention

Lookonchain, a well-known analytical firm, revealed on X (formerly Twitter) that after Binance announced POPCAT perpetual contracts, a whale withdrew 39,816 Solana, valued at $5.73 million, from the exchange to purchase 10 million POPCAT memecoins. This highlights the growing influence of memecoins within the Solana network.

To gain insight into the impact of meme tokens on Solana, recent market trends were analyzed, revealing several significant findings.

Solana's Exchange Activity Amid POPCAT Listing

On the day POPCAT was listed on KuCoin's spot exchange, buy orders for SOL surpassed sell orders by 13%, even though the overall net exchange flow remained negative. This suggests that investors might be buying SOL to participate in the POPCAT memecoin ecosystem, indicating confidence in Solana-based projects.

Solana's Net Flow During POPCAT Listing

Data from Coinglass shows a negative net flow, meaning more Solana is being withdrawn from exchanges than deposited. This could be due to the whale activity mentioned earlier, potentially driving Solana’s price in a bullish direction. However, whether this trend will continue in the long term remains to be seen.

Conditions Required for a Sustained SOL Surge

Since its listing, POPCAT has seen a substantial increase, approaching its previous resistance level of $0.6607. While POPCAT has shown strong daily performance, this does not necessarily guarantee a sustained impact on Solana’s price. Favorable market conditions would be required for a significant surge in SOL.

Forecasting POPCAT’s Long-Term Impact on Solana

Interestingly, despite recent whale activity, the trading volume for Solana did not see a substantial increase. On the day of the POPCAT listing, Solana’s trading volume exceeded $2 billion but has since declined to $1.40 billion. Furthermore, the Weighted Sentiment has shifted from extremely positive to moderately positive.

While POPCAT has rekindled investor interest in Solana, additional factors are needed to anticipate a potential breakout. The overall sentiment surrounding Solana remains notably neutral, suggesting a wait-and-see approach for investors.