Weekly Crypto Highlights: SOL Hits All-Time High (Nov 17–23)

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The past week has seen explosive momentum across the crypto ecosystem, with Solana (SOL) reclaiming its spotlight by surging past previous all-time highs. From major ETF developments and native stablecoin launches to token generation events and strategic institutional partnerships, the landscape is rapidly evolving. This deep dive explores the most impactful updates shaping the blockchain space — from DeFi innovations to community-driven tokenomics and beyond.

Solana Soars: SOL Reaches New All-Time High

Solana’s native token, SOL, broke through the $260 resistance level on Friday, marking a historic milestone as it surpassed its previous high of $259.9 reached in November 2021. This 12.11% single-day surge reflects renewed investor confidence and growing institutional interest.

In parallel, Solana’s Total Value Locked (TVL) has surged past $9 billion — the highest since December 2021 — signaling strong adoption across its DeFi ecosystem. Leading protocols driving this growth include:

This momentum was further amplified by a pivotal development: Cboe Global Markets submitted formal applications to the U.S. SEC for four Solana spot ETFs. The proposed funds are backed by reputable issuers including VanEck, 21Shares, Canary Capital, and Bitwise. If the SEC does not intervene, final decisions could come as early as August 2025.

👉 Discover how ETF developments could reshape crypto investment strategies in 2025.

USDS Launches on Solana: A Native Stablecoin Revolution

A major breakthrough for Solana’s DeFi stack came with the launch of USDS, the network’s first major DeFi-native stablecoin. Unlike bridged assets, USDS is designed from the ground up for seamless integration within Solana’s high-speed environment.

Powered by Sky Protocol and enabled via Wormhole’s Native Token Transfer (NTT), USDS allows frictionless cross-chain operations while maintaining capital efficiency. To incentivize early adoption, Sky Ecosystem is distributing over 500,000 USDS weekly in rewards across key platforms:

This coordinated incentive program aims to bootstrap liquidity and position USDS as a core building block for lending, yield generation, and trading.

ME Token TGE Set for December 10

Magic Eden Foundation has officially announced that its ecosystem token ME will undergo its Token Generation Event (TGE) on December 10, 2024. With a projected total value exceeding $500 million, ME represents one of the most anticipated community-driven token launches of the year.

Key details of the ME tokenomics:

Tokens can be claimed through the Magic Eden wallet app. Notably, a five-member security council will oversee a multi-sig wallet to ensure protocol safety and enable emergency actions when needed. ME holders will also benefit from staking rewards, reinforcing long-term engagement.

ME is already tradable on several pre-market exchanges such as OKX and Bybit, indicating strong market anticipation ahead of the official TGE.

Ethena USDe Supply Hits Record High

Ethena’s synthetic dollar, USDe, continues its rapid ascent, with supply growing 47.45% in the past month to reach **$3.75 billion** — an all-time high. On November 21 alone, over $119 million flowed into USDe, marking the largest daily inflow since mid-April.

This surge coincides with persistently high Bitcoin funding rates, making Ethena’s delta-hedged model increasingly attractive to yield seekers. Additionally, the sUSDe staking rate has climbed to 68.4%, the highest since late February, reflecting strong user confidence in earning sustainable basis yield.

Zircuit Launches Transferability and Bitget Pool

Zircuit, a fully EVM-compatible zk-rollup solution, has taken a significant step forward by enabling ZRC token transfers as of November 25, 2024. This paves the way for broader trading and utility deployment.

Simultaneously, Bitget launched a Launchpool campaign running from November 25 to November 30 (UTC+8), offering a total of 9,125,000 ZRC tokens in rewards. Users can participate by staking BGB or USDT.

Zircuit also teased an upcoming major product release next week, fueling speculation about new privacy-preserving features or scalability enhancements.

👉 Explore how next-gen rollups like Zircuit are redefining Layer 2 performance.

Aptos’ Emojicoin Sees Surge in Meme Creation

Aptos’ new meme coin launchpad, Emojicoin, has generated significant buzz since going live. As of Thursday, approximately 1,700 tokens have been created on the platform. However, only around 30 tokens have achieved the required 4,500 APT market cap threshold to “graduate” to DEX listings — representing a mere 1.8% success rate.

Despite low graduation rates, total trading volume on Emojicoin has reached 1.9 million APT (~$22 million), underscoring strong community participation and speculative interest in meme-based projects on high-performance chains.

Sui Partners with Franklin Templeton

Sui Foundation announced a strategic partnership with Franklin Templeton Digital Assets, marking a significant institutional endorsement. The collaboration aims to support builders within the Sui ecosystem and explore new financial products leveraging Sui’s high-throughput blockchain architecture.

Franklin Templeton plans to use Sui’s network to enhance transparency and efficiency in asset management — a promising signal of traditional finance embracing next-generation blockchain infrastructure.

BONK Announces “BURNmas” Initiative

BonkDAO revealed an ambitious plan to burn 1 trillion BONK tokens before Christmas 2024 — dubbed “BURNmas.” The event began on November 15 and will conclude on December 24 (UTC).

Burns will be sourced from applications within the Solana ecosystem that utilize BONK for utility functions. This deflationary move aims to increase scarcity and long-term value accrual.

Market reaction has been positive: BONK price surged past 0.00005 USDT, hitting a new all-time high of 0.000052568 USDT, with a 24-hour gain of 33.4%.

SynFutures Ends Oyster Odyssey Ahead of TGE

SynFutures announced the conclusion of its Oyster Odyssey points program on November 25, widely interpreted as a precursor to an imminent Token Generation Event (TGE) and airdrop.

Launched in March 2024 on Blast and later expanded to Base, the campaign attracted over 6.5 million unique wallet addresses. Today, SynFutures ranks as the top decentralized perpetuals exchange on both networks by trading volume and TVL.

With cumulative trading volume exceeding $200 billion, according to DeFiLlama, anticipation is building for the official token release.

ETHGlobal Bangkok Hackathon Winners Revealed

ETHGlobal’s recent hackathon in Bangkok drew 713 project submissions, judged by industry luminaries including Vitalik Buterin (Ethereum), Stani Kulechov (Aave), and Jesse Pollak (Base). The event featured a $750,000 prize pool.

Top winning projects spanned AI agents, DAO tools, gaming, and real-world use cases:

These innovations highlight the expanding convergence of AI, social layers, and blockchain infrastructure.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What caused SOL to reach a new all-time high?
A: SOL’s rally was driven by growing DeFi activity (TVL >$9B), Cboe’s ETF filings for Solana spot ETFs, and strong market sentiment around upcoming ecosystem launches like ME and USDS.

Q: How can I participate in Zircuit’s Launchpool?
A: You can join by staking BGB or USDT on Bitget during the campaign period (Nov 25–30 UTC+8) to earn a share of 9,125,000 ZRC tokens.

Q: When is the ME token TGE?
A: The ME token TGE is scheduled for December 10, 2024. Eligible users can claim tokens via the Magic Eden wallet app.

Q: What is USDS and why is it important?
A: USDS is Solana’s first native DeFi stablecoin, enabling efficient borrowing, lending, and trading without reliance on bridged assets. It’s supported by Sky Protocol and Wormhole NTT.

Q: Is Ethena USDe safe to use?
A: Ethena employs a delta-hedging model using staked ETH derivatives to back USDe. While not fully collateralized like traditional stablecoins, its risk controls are closely monitored by independent auditors.

Q: What does Franklin Templeton’s partnership mean for Sui?
A: It signals growing institutional validation of Sui’s technology for real-world financial applications, potentially accelerating enterprise adoption and product development.

👉 Stay ahead of major crypto events and token launches with real-time market insights.