Key highlights:

• Solana is surging ahead of the pack - It left rival Cardano in the dust last month with a 30% spike while ADA only mustered a 4% gain. This helped SOL muscle its way into the prestigious 7th spot in total market cap among all cryptocurrencies.
• Activity on the Solana network is exploding - Daily NFT sales topped $1.4 million recently and the total value locked in DeFi protocols has crossed $355 million.
• The price could rocket even higher by year's end - an AI prediction model says SOL may hit around $57 per coin by late December. That's a juicy 92% increase from current prices!

Solana has been on a tremendous run lately, rocketing up the cryptocurrency rankings. Powered by rapid growth across its ecosystem, could this smart contract platform be poised for even more gains before 2023 comes to a close? Let's take a deeper look.

Solana surpasses Cardano

Solana has left Cardano in the dust with an impressive double-digit price spike over the last month. Gaining over 30% while ADA rose just 4%, Solana emerged as the 7th largest cryptocurrency by market cap. This performance could signal a growing adoption of Solana's ultra-fast blockchain as an alternative to older layers-1 like Cardano.

With total value locked crossing $655 million according to DeFiLlama, activity on Solana's ecosystem is booming as well. Daily NFT sales even surpassed $1.4 million recently. Investors are taking notice of Solana's expanding use cases and rapidly appreciating its potential.

Where will SOL be by year's end?

Could this run beindicating even greater gains are still in store? According to Coincodex’s AI-powered price predictions from CoinCodex, quite possibly. Their model predicts a bullish end to 2023 for Solana that could see its price surge well past recent highs.

Solana’s 3-month price prediction

Specifically, CoinCodex estimates SOL will reach a peak price of $57.19 by the last week of December – an astounding 92% increase from current levels! This forecast incorporates technical analysis of Solana's historic volatility and trendlines following previous Bitcoin halvings. If the prediction materalizes, we can say that put to rest the debate over Solana’s recovery from 2022’s crash.

Bullish signs are everywhere

The indicators also point to continued momentum. Most short and medium term technical signals tracked by CoinCodex are flashing green, with the majority signaling a buy. Solana's 50 and 200-day moving averages are trending up as well, indicating solid support underneath.

Even investor sentiment is riding high – CoinCodex pegs the current SOL "fear and greed" index squarely in bullish territory. With 18 of the last 30 days closing in the green, it's no wonder traders seem eager to keep this party going.

Solana’s investment sentiment as of October 23, 2023 (based on 31 technical analysis indicators)

While past performance doesn't guarantee the future, all signs suggest Solana may still have plenty of fuel left in the tank. If you feel the potential of this innovative blockchain hasn't been fully realized yet, keeping a close eye on SOL in the weeks ahead could prove prudent indeed. The party may only be getting started.

Solana (SOL) has taken its place among the long-term investments of many investors. Our article Solana Price Prediction for 2040 & 2050 will also give insight in this context.