Altcoin Uptick: Solana Upgrade, Cardano ETF Deadline Loom

As the crypto market remains volatile, several upcoming events could put altcoins in focus before the next major market move. One analyst has identified five altcoins to watch in August, and we take a closer look at each of them.

Solana is set for a major network upgrade with the rollout of Agave 4.2 client from August 17, which will bring faster block times, reduced rent costs, larger transaction sizes, and higher block capacity. However, on-chain analyst Ali Martinez has reported a 5% decline in wallets holding at least 0.1 $SOL over the past two weeks, indicating weaker participation from smaller Solana holders.

Despite this, upgrades in August could further strengthen Solana's position across DeFi, payments, and on-chain trading. Michaël van de Poppe has also predicted a rally above $250 for Bittensor ($TAO) within the next 4-6 weeks, as it breaks above its daily moving averages.

Cardano is another altcoin approaching a key regulatory milestone with the six-month anniversary of CME Cardano futures launching on August 9. This allows exchanges to pursue a spot ADA ETF under the SEC's streamlined framework. Cardano is also testing its Leios scalability upgrade ahead of mainnet deployment later this year.

Stacks has introduced one of Bitcoin's biggest utility upgrades with the activation of PoX 5, which will launch its Genesis Bond later this month. This system allows users to earn Bitcoin-denominated rewards while maintaining self-custody of their BTC.

Avantis rounds out the list as a high-risk opportunity with its Version 2 launching on August 12, introducing new trading features and expanding towards more than 500 real-world assets. The platform has already processed over $93 billion in trading volume and generated roughly $24 million in fees.