SOL shines brighter than ever

Ethereum-challenger Solana keeps expanding its horizons and earlier today the SOL coin hit a new all-time high of about $26. Eleven months ago, SOL was fifty cents.

In late February, the Solana blockchain, a time-passage notary stamp for the modern age, began to gain momentum with the launch of Raydium, a Solana-powered automated market maker (AMM), an extension of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried's Serum, a decentralized exchange (DEX). Raydium has since garnered $200 million in total value of assets locked, Solana said.

More recently, OKEx's Block Dream Fund and MXC infused $40 million into Solana-based projects in what CoinDesk described as shots fired in a "DeFi arms race." 

SOL creator Anatoly Yakovenko has declared his proof-of-history vision will one day be remembered for having abetted a higher-throughput blockchain, allowing developers and entrepreneurs "to dream big about what they can build."

If north of $60,000 is an adventure Bitcoin should decide to seek, it obviously must figure out how to remain above $59,000. As of Wednesday at 7:30 a.m. (EST), BTC collected its baggage in a lonely bus depot basement below $57K. The most gigantic of all cryptos has fallen 2.6% over the past 24 hours. BTC has declined 2.9% over the past week.

Bitcoin choking on the $59,500-$60,000 barrier/springboard may wind up being merely a forgotten blip on a never-again-gazed-upon radar screen; or could it be that traders, in a distressing harbinger, have found a way to arbitrage in and out of South Korean exchanges?

That country's so-called "kimchi premium" dramatically fell over the course of just a few hours earlier today, prompting some analysts and pundits to point out past episodes when the signal named for a spicy Korean side dish – and reflecting the difference in BTC's price on Korean exchanges versus the rest of the world – screamed trouble.

Pointing to historical data, Vetle Lunde, analyst, Arcane Research, per CryptoPotato, said BTC’s price has swooned on at least a few past occasions (in May 2017 and January 2018) following a peak in the kimchi premium.

Jump Trading took an equity stake in sports fan token platform Chiliz. Sports icon Tom Brady revealed plans for a non-fungible token platform. And trading card company Topps conveniently went public.

Just another warm day in the springtime of NFTs.

What began 80 years ago as a family-run chewing gum business, Topps now becomes part of a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), via a merger with Mudrick Capital. Shares of Mudrick Capital Acquisition Corp. II (MUDS) surged 16%. Topps seems poised to go full-Bazooka on NFTs.

Many hobby culture purists could reject digital offerings, which at present is only 6% of Topps' revenue. But cultural proclivities change – that's just the way it is – although, sadly, younger generations might not ever get to experience the stale, bland free stick of gum slipped into each pack of cards.