Solana's SOL cryptocurrency has surged to its highest level in 2024 amid a broader rally in cryptocurrency markets, driven by trading activity on the Solana-based Dogwifhat (WIF) memecoin. Over the past 24 hours, SOL has experienced a 13.3% increase, rising from $108 to reach a yearly peak of $124.17, according to CoinGecko data.

The upswing in Solana's value followed significant buying activity of the memecoin Dogwifhat (WIF), which operates on the Solana platform. Launched on Dec. 14, 2023, and represented by an image of a Solana developer's dog wearing a knitted hat, WIF has seen its price surge by 55% since Feb. 27, climbing from $0.52 to $0.82 at the time of reporting. Since its inception, WIF has appreciated by more than 50,000%.

Despite these gains, SOL's value remains 52% lower than its peak price of $259.62 reached on Nov. 6, 2021. Other major cryptocurrencies, such as Binance's BNB and Dogecoin, also hit new highs for 2024, approximately two hours before Solana.

The growth in the crypto market is propelled by Bitcoin, which continues to attract institutional investment into recently approved spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). On Feb. 28, these ten ETFs recorded a record-breaking volume of $7.7 billion, with BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin ETF receiving over $612 million in inflows, the highest among all ETFs to date.

Ether also reached its peak price of 2024, reaching $3,492 on Feb. 28. Market observers are anticipating the launch of the upcoming spot Ether ETF as a potential catalyst for further growth, speculating that its price movement might mirror Bitcoin's trajectory before the approval of its spot ETF products.