Solana (SOL) has outpaced Ethereum (ETH) in recent trading, with the SOL/ETH ratio on Binance climbing to an all-time high of 0.081, or 8.1%, according to TradingView. This marks a 40% increase from the 5.8% ratio recorded at the beginning of the year. The spike reflects Solana’s bullish momentum and Ethereum’s recent price struggles, as SOL gained 10% and ETH dropped 10% over the past week, based on The Block’s price data.

The widening performance gap coincides with Ethereum’s upcoming Pectra upgrade, scheduled for May 7. As the network approaches this significant software milestone, ETH has seen increased volatility and waning investor confidence. The ETH-to-BTC ratio has also suffered, falling 47% over the last six months to 0.019—its lowest level since January 2020.

Pectra represents Ethereum’s most important upgrade since Dencun in March 2024. It aims to implement account abstraction, increase staking limits, and enhance scalability through improvements in maximum blob count—key for supporting rollups. Despite short-term bearish sentiment, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin expressed optimism on X, saying there’s growing consensus among developers for faster future upgrades following Pectra.

Buterin also referenced “Glamsterdam,” a post-Pectra upgrade, noting a strong push among researchers to prioritize gas limit increases. If development progresses quickly, he hinted Glamsterdam could arrive earlier than expected.

As Ethereum grapples with transitional uncertainty, Solana continues to gain traction among investors. With its rising price relative to ETH, Solana’s market momentum highlights growing interest in faster, lower-cost alternatives as Ethereum focuses on long-term scalability improvements.