One of the better-performing cryptocurrencies in 2024 has, perhaps unexpectedly, been Raydium (RAY). Apart from two notable instances where sharp moves to the upside were seen in March and July, the asset has been subject to range-bound price movements for most of 2024.
The wider crypto market bull run that kicked off in early November following the re-election of Donald Trump has had an outsized effect on RAY prices. Just for reference, since November 5, Bitcoin (BTC) prices have increased by 50.62% — in contrast, Raydium has seen a 70.24% surge in the same timeframe. This has brought returns since December of 2023 up to 672.37%.
At press time, RAY was trading at $5.60 and has seen a strong 78.16% increase in volume in the last 24 hours alone. A lot of our readers might not be familiar with this digital asset — even accounting for the impressive returns that we’ve mentioned, RAY is only the 74th largest cryptocurrency in the world, with a market capitalization of roughly $1.63 billion, per CoinMarketCap.
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Knowledge is power, after all — and apparently, it can also be quite profitable. This latest rally has put Raydium in the crypto community’s spotlight — here’s what Finbold readers should know about this potentially lucrative investment.
Raydium is a decentralized exchange — and RAY is a crucial part of it
Raydium is a cryptocurrency platform that allows users to trade directly with one another — no middleman is involved. The platform is built on the Solana (SOL) blockchain, ensuring that transactions are both quite cheap and fast.
RAY is the platform’s native token — it is used to pay transaction fees, provide liquidity for the exchange, as well as for staking. In exchange for these activities, users are generally awarded additional RAY, discounts, or voting rights regarding the platform’s development.
As an exchange, Raydium has seen quite the uptick lately — in Q3 2024, it secured the majority of Solana’s DEX volume, surpassing even Uniswap. Solana, in turn, accounts for roughly 50% of global DEX volume. In November, the platform accounted for more than 60% of Solana’s daily trading volume, per crypto intelligence company Messari.
The ongoing bull run was certainly a favorable tailwind — but it was the beginning of alt season and the shift toward meme coins that has truly cemented Raydium as a force to be reckoned with.
Meme coins have driven 65% of the platform’s monthly volume — and with most analysts expecting alt season to last for quite a while, it’s likely that we haven’t seen the last of RAY’s moves upward.
Featured image via Shutterstock
