CNBC, one of the world’s largest cable news networks providing real-time financial market coverage, has dropped Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Litecoin (LTC) and replaced them with Solana (SOL). Meanwhile, they will continue to cover news related to Bitcoin and Ethereum, two of the world’s most valuable crypto platforms and pioneers in their respective fields.
As of August 26, it could not be ascertained why CNBC dropped Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin. However, what’s evident is that they have been on the receiving end in recent days, and their valuation has been suffering in the past few years.
SOL In, BCH And LTC Out
Despite posting impressive gains in July, BCH has recoiled as the hype around the approval of a Bitcoin spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States faded. Bitcoin and BCH rose earlier after BlackRock applied for a Bitcoin spot ETF with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Meanwhile, Litecoin is down days after halving its miner rewards in early August.
Subsequently, BCH and LTC are no longer in the top 10 by market capitalization and have emerging smart contracts and transactional networks that have taken positions in recent years. LTC and BCH have a market capitalization of around $4.8 billion and $3.7 billion, respectively, and are among the top 20 most valuable coins at 16th and 18th in the leaderboard.
On the other hand, Solana is perched at 9th in the market cap leaderboard, commanding a valuation of $8.3 billion. The network is ahead of Tron, at 10th, with 6.9 billion. SOL is also closing in on Dogecoin and Cardano, whose market cap stands at $8.8 and $9.1 billion, respectively.
Rise Of NFT Activity And Solana Pay
That CNBC chose to cover SOL and dismiss BCH and LTC has triggered discussions in social media platforms. On X, one user said the decision was an endorsement for Solana. He pointed to the developments “behind the scenes,” including the spike in non-fungible token (NFT) activity.
In early July, the number of NFTs minted on Solana surpassed those generated from Ethereum for the first time since May 2022. The surge could be attributed to Solana’s high scalability, which translates to low transaction fees, benefiting creators. OpenSea and Rarible, two of the world’s popular NFT marketplaces, supported Solana NFTs in 2022. With their support, it becomes easier for users to trade, which could further boost blockchain activity.
Beyond NFTs, Solana Pay, a payment solution, is finding traction. Early this week, Shopify, a leading ecommerce platform, integrated Solana Pay for users to settle USDC payments easily. Circle, the issuer of USDC, and Checkout, a payment processor, have supported Solana Pay.
Featured image from Canva, chart from TradingView