Solana (SOL) has experienced a notable uptick, climbing approximately 5% over the past 24 hours to reach around $138–$139 as of November 28, 2025.
This movement comes amid heightened network activity and a key governance proposal that’s sparking debate in the community.
While the rally isn’t isolated—broader market sentiment has Bitcoin pushing toward $91K and Ethereum gaining ground—Solana’s gains appear tied to two specific catalysts: explosive growth in the x402 protocol and the advancement of SIMD-0411, a proposal aimed at accelerating token disinflation.
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x402 is an emerging protocol on Solana designed for AI agents to execute autonomous micropayments. Think of it as plumbing for an “agentic economy,” where AI bots can pay for APIs, compute, data, or services in real-time without human intervention.
Launched relatively recently, it’s gaining traction due to Solana’s low fees and high throughput, which make tiny, frequent transactions economically viable. Over the weekend leading into this week, x402 transaction volume spiked dramatically—up 500% in just 48 hours, with over 500,000 transactions and $100K in volume.
Daily txns have grown 25x in the last 10 days, hitting 250K+ per day. This isn’t just hype; it’s real on-chain activity, outpacing some centralized exchanges in niche flows. This surge demonstrates Solana’s edge in hosting scalable, cost-efficient apps. As AI agents proliferate via projects like HeyElsaAI or PayAINetwork.
x402 positions Solana as the go-to chain for “pay-per-call” infrastructure. Related tokens like $PAYAI an early x402 facilitator have seen valuations hit $60M in hours, signaling investor bets on this narrative.
Community buzz on X is electric, with devs and degens building “x402 labs,” hackathons, and even “dark” (private) facilitators for anonymous txns. Solana’s on-chain SOL/USDC volume recently surpassed Binance + Coinbase combined for a week, with $5.5B USDC minted in November acting as a “permanent bid” for liquidity.
Tools like Jupiter DEX crossing $2.1B daily volume and Orca are capturing this flow, saving traders 10–100 basis points vs. CEXs. Add in upgrades like Firedancer now live on mainnet and spot ETFs launching in Brazil/Canada this December, and the network’s handling 70M daily txns at 99.9% uptime—proving it’s no longer “fast but fragile.”
SIMD-0411 Proposal: A Push for Token ScarcityThe “new proposal to cut token supply” refers to SIMD-0411, tabled by Helius Labs and now under active debate in Solana’s developer forums. It’s not a outright burn but a structural tweak to make SOL scarcer over time.
Potential short-term dip could pressure smaller validators but boosts scarcity premium. The goal is aggressive disinflation to reward holders and align incentives as adoption grows like TVL up 30%, 1.2M daily users.
Proponents see it as a “turning point” for SOL’s economy, potentially driving price via supply shock—especially with institutional inflows like Trump’s World Liberty Financial deploying $300M into SOL/stSOL. Critics worry about reduced staking returns sidelining small validators, though only 2% of supply unlocks annually not the exaggerated 10% FUD.
Community votes could wrap in weeks; if passed, it rolls out via a network upgrade, similar to recent inflation tweaks. This 5% pop aligns with a green day across majors; BTC +4.7% to $91.5K, ETH +3.8% to $2.8K, but Solana’s outperformance underscores its beta to AI/DeFi narratives.
On-chain metrics are robust: $420M in fees this month from memecoins and perps alone, plus whale accumulation. Price predictions vary—some forecast $230 by early 2025, others $482 average—but scarcity + agent flows could catalyze a leg higher if macro holds.
Validator pushback on SIMD-0411 or broader crypto pullback like if BTC tests $80K support could cap gains. Still, with $75B market cap and real utility trumping “paid liquidity” on L2s, Solana’s setup feels primed for the next rotation.
If you’re trading or building, eyes on x402 hackathon winners and proposal votes—these could extend the rally.