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Solana Price Dips Below $160 as $1.77 Billion FTX Unlock Looms

Solana price action has been under pressure as investors react to the upcoming unlock of 11.2 million SOL tokens by the defunct exchange FTX, set for March 1, 2025.

This event could flood the market, pushing prices down, but some see the dip as a chance to buy low.

Solana Price Dips Below $160

The price crash saw Solana fall below $160 for the first time in 2025, last seen at $159.64 on October 20, 2024. Over the past month, it dropped more than 35%, with a current market cap of $78 billion and fully diluted valuation of $95 billion.

While many are selling off, data from Deribit shows large investors, or “whales,” are using put options—contracts to sell at a set price—to protect against further drops, with 80% of block trades being puts, totaling $32.39 million out of $130.74 million in options activity last week.

Solana price crash below $160 is notable, as it hadn’t traded at this level since October 20, 2024, when it closed at $159.64.

SOL/USDT Chart | Source: Trading View
SOL/USDT Chart | Source: Trading View

At the time of writing, SOL is trading at $158.33, still below the $160 threshold, according to Coinmarketcap data. The token has seen a 7.9% drop in the past 24 hours, over 13% decline over the past week, and more than 35% fall in the past 30 days.

This sustained downward trend reflects growing investor wariness ahead of the FTX unlock.

The FTX Unlock: A Supply Shock on the Horizon

The upcoming unlock by FTX involves releasing 11.2 million SOL tokens, worth approximately $1.77 billion, on March 1, 2025.

This event is expected to flood the market with additional supply, potentially leading to selling pressure and further price drops.

Investors fear that FTX, once a major player in crypto, could trigger a significant sell-off, exacerbating the current price decline. This concern is rooted in the basic economic principle of supply and demand, where increased supply without corresponding demand can depress prices.

The market’s reaction extends beyond price, impacting Solana’s ecosystem metrics. According to data from DeFi Llama, Solana’s decentralized exchange (DEX) volume has decreased by 36.66% in the past week. With the current weekly DEX volume at $16.6 billion and daily volume at $1.5 billion.

Solana DEX Volume | Source: Defillama
Solana DEX Volume | Source: Defillama

This decline mirrors the price drop, indicating reduced activity across trading platforms. Since February 24, 2025, Solana has lost nearly $10 billion in both market cap and fully diluted valuation. This underscored the broad impact of the unlock fear.

SOL Options Data Signals Caution

Derivatives markets also show signs of caution. Data from Amberdata reveals that SOL block trades on Deribit accounted for nearly 25% of all Solana options activity. These totaled $32.39 million out of $130.74 million.

This is the second largest portion of SOL block trades ever recorded. They were nearly 80% of these block trades concentrated in put contracts.

Put options are often used to hedge against price declines or speculate on further drops. This activity suggests that large investors, or “whales,” are preparing for or expecting additional volatility. Whales are protecting their positions from potential losses.

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Crypto News

Circle Mints $250M USDC on Solana, Boosting Supply to $1B

Circle has expanded its USDC issuance on Solana by minting an additional $250 million.

This latest minting raises the company’s total issuance on the blockchain to $1 billion in the past week.

The surge reflects increasing demand for USDC among traders and DeFi protocols within the Solana ecosystem.

Circle Expands USDC Supply on Solana

The latest minting brings Solana’s total stablecoin supply to $11.579 billion. USDC now dominates the blockchain, holding 78% of the stablecoin market. The supply increase aligns with Circle’s strategy to support growing DeFi activities on Solana.

Since January, Circle has minted $8 billion in USDC on Solana. The company expensed $6 billion to the market in January and repeated this action by distributing an extra $2 billion in February. The steady growth suggests rising institutional and retail interest in USDC within the ecosystem.

According to DeFiLlama, USDC’s market cap on Solana has reached $9.093 billion. The stablecoin presently retains the top position among competing stablecoins USDT and PYUSD. The growing adoption indicates confidence in USDC as a preferred digital dollar on Solana.

Tether Remains Key Player on Solana

Despite USDC’s dominance, USDT remains the second-largest stablecoin on Solana. Tether currently has a market cap of $1.968 billion on the blockchain.

This positions USDT as the only major competitor to USDC within Solana’s growing ecosystem.

Tether’s presence on Solana highlights its continued relevance in crypto trading.

USDC continues to be extensively employed for financial transactions and serves as base liquidity and decentralized application foundation.

Its market cap suggests sustained demand, even with Circle’s aggressive USDC expansion.

While USDT lags behind USDC on Solana, it still leads the global stablecoin market.

Tether remains the largest stablecoin in circulation across multiple blockchains, and its overall market presence ensures competition among stablecoin issuers.

Political Figures Fuel Volatility in Memecoins

Solana’s stablecoin market has grown significantly, surpassing $10 billion in January.

The stablecoin market has demonstrated a 110% growth pattern since its previous value of $5.1 billion zoomed up to $10.7 billion during January.

Memecoins have become increasingly popular blockchain members while their market underwent rapid growth.

Memecoins emerged due to the platforms created by Pump.Fun.

The platforms make building and launching memecoins straightforward, thus drawing in new network participants.

The increased activity has boosted the demand for stablecoins like USDC and USDT. U.S. President Donald Trump began the memecoin TRUMP in January of this year.

When first introduced, the token reached $15 billion in market capitalization before its value decreased to $3 billion.

The memecoin market activity of this figure triggered other prominent personalities to investigate their memecoin projects.

Following Trump’s entry into the space, Melania Trump launched her memecoin. Her move made her the first First Lady to introduce a cryptocurrency token.

The trend of political figures launching memecoins has added volatility to the market.

Argentina’s President Javier Milei also became linked to a memecoin project. The token, named $LIBRA, later turned out to be a scam.

Milei now faces legal issues related to the failed project. Political figures participating in memecoins have reacted to market speculations and significant group disputes.

Russia declared its intention to issue a new cryptocurrency back in January.

This decision has resulted in price volatility of these tokens, bringing about both investor interest and regulatory scrutiny.

Research indicates these patterns will have definite and complex effects on the stablecoin market.

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Crypto News

This is Why Solana Could Pump 13% Soon

Technical indicators suggest Solana (SOL) is about to experience significant price fluctuations amid an upcoming symmetrical triangle pattern breakout.

A Solana price confirmation could boost its value by 13% while capturing market trader and investor interest.

The upper resistance line is $34, while the lower support line is $31.50. When the symmetrical triangle apex is reached, price volatility typically rises, which could result in a future breakout.

When the market exceeds $34, a 13% Solana price increase would become possible.

Based on this price prediction, the upcoming resistance target points to approximately $38.50.

When SOL drops below $31.50, it may fall to reconfirm the $29 support area.

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Prices Still struggling

According to the charts, the SOL/USD movement during the last 4 hours shows bearish patterns.

The cryptocurrency market has caused SOL prices to plunge 9.24% since yesterday to reach a point of $151.75.

The market displayed powerful selling pressure, which triggered a price decrease while the trading volume reached $2.54 billion, marking an increase of 46.01%.

The marketplace capitalization value experienced a 9.24% decrease, thus mirroring the general market sentiment.

The value plummeted by $11 from its initial position of $170 during one 24-hour period to $159 and then to $151.

A straight fall reflects bearish momentum since the price shows no recovery during the downfall.

The price chart demonstrates how it broke through previous support levels, which indicates that the downward trend will continue.

Indicator candles display an extended period of red color, showing consistent selling force. The market shows no signs of buying activity to stop this declining pattern.

The declining analyst charts demonstrate an ongoing downtrend because the market value exceeds the critical $189.31 resistance point.

A sequence of decreasing price highs throughout the market creates bearish momentum indications.

Numerous rejection points shown with red arrows reveal the heightened marketplace selling activity found near resistance areas.

The bearish attitude is supported by the current price level breaking below $175.26 support as traders await the central support area extending from $126.36 to $112.36.

Based on current market structures, the analyst predicts SOL will face increasing bearish market conditions in the next March.

Solana Charts Showing Bear Waters

The SMAs show a bearish trend because their crossover pattern puts the shorter-time frame average below the longer-term average.

The price shows resistance at the current moving averages, indicating a strong barrier at $174.30.

The selling interest throughout this zone will prevent most recovery attempts from reaching this price area.

4-hour SOL/USD Chart | Source: TradingView

Sellers control the market because negative volume bars occupy most of the space in the bottom portion of the second image.

Price falls sharply during times of intense negative selling activity, thus extending the current bearish market trend.

The absence of green volume bars shows low buyer participation, which confirms the bearish market performance.

The $159 price stands as the market’s present short-term protection point.

This support level for Solana becomes more prone to failure because there is currently insufficient market demand.

The $150 area serves as potential temporary support after the initial support breakdown.

The bearish forecast would only be challenged at a $174.30 breakpoint. However, this seems improbable for the upcoming period because of recent momentum dynamics.

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Crypto News

Will Solana Reclaim $180, Price Retraces Below $176 Support Level

A Solana (SOL) whale has been stacking up from Binance, recently withdrawing 174,767 SOL, as price descended.

Based on current market prices, this is worth approximately $30.37 million. The whale then staked the withdrawn funds. 

Solana’s market price reached $178 amid this new accumulation, with its market value rising 3%.

However, as per more recent data, Solana price has retrace to $173.68, with a 2.34% drop in 24 hours.

Source: @lookonchain | X

Whale Activity and Its Impact on Solana Price

CoinMarketCap data shows a rising trend as $SOL prices have climbed from their previous value of $175.21 to $179.10 in recent times.

Solana and the broader market show an upward trend because investors believe in its technological enhancements and increasing use in decentralized finance (DeFi) and other sectors.

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Solana’s market cap exceeds $84.86 billion, while its 24-hour trading activity reached $4.03 billion, marking a 9.48% growth above earlier periods.

According to the presented statistics, trade volume and investor participation in the asset remain positive.

The current market engagement appears strong because Solana’s 24-hour volume-to-market cap ratio reaches 4.78%.

Analysts now believe Solana price is trying to bounce midway. The experts predicted a bounce from the 133 level if it formed a strong base near it.

The scenario now seems to be unfolding.

Source: X

Solana’s Bouncing Back Towards $180?

Solana has displayed upward price actions across the last few days, even though its value has experienced sporadic changes.

The price of Solana experienced an upward trajectory precisely when whales started making their market transactions.

The price maintained a consolidated state following a preceding adjustment that took it from $180.15 to $178.83 and now at $173.63.

This shows high volatility as the assets look to retract before repeating their attempts at breaking relevant price levels.

This is seen from a downward market movement that occurred within the principal bullish price trend, as shown in the red price movement in the chart.

1-hour SOL/USD Chart | Source: TradingView

The ADX (Average Directional Index) measures 41.52, indicating a powerful market trend.

The present bearish momentum reached almost 90% strength, as noted in the ADX, reaching above 25 before last week’s price increase.

The ADX value decline signals that current trend strength is weakening, which indicates a short-term reversal or consolidation is possible.

The market has set its resistance at the $180 mark because it represents the previous high preceding the decline.

Additional price growth may slow down since another rise to this level will encounter strong resisting forces.

Solana’s previous market behavior showed that the $176 price area maintains strong support, which indicates that this region could act as a stable basis if prices start decreasing.

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Altcoin Altcoins Crypto ETFs News Solana

Solana Crypto Secures Fresh Boost as Sol Strategies Welcomes New Milestone

On February 20, Sol Strategies announced that it had been selected as a staking provider for Tetra Trust. This is a notable achievement for the firm, known as Canada’s first licensed digital asset trust company. This alliance could significantly boost the Solana (SOL) crypto ecosystem.

As a result of this new development, institutional clients, including 3iQ’s upcoming Solana Staking ETF, can now access secure, regulated services via Solana.

The Sol Strategies Update

Solana may enter the season of more institutional adoption with this new partnership between Sol Strategies and Tetra Trust.

Sol Strategies will provide its validator infrastructure directly through Tetra’s custody platform as an approved staking provider for the firm.

Leah Wald, CEO of Sol Strategies, acknowledged the integration, citing that.

“Being selected as a staking provider for Tetra’s platform marks another significant milestone in institutional Solana adoption. This integration creates a seamless experience for institutional clients seeking secure, regulated access to Solana staking.”

Generally, Tetra Trust is known for delivering custody solutions to several of Canada’s leading digital asset investment products.

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It allegedly has a proven track record of providing institutional staking infrastructure across several regions. This feature endeared it to Tetra Trust, according to Didier Lavallée, the company’s CEO.

Tetra Trust admits that integration is core to the continuity of its services, particularly in providing comprehensive crypto offerings to its institutional clients.

Solana Crypto Price and Future Outlook

One of the most thriving sectors on Solana is the memecoin niche which may experience a sizable push due to this latest development. In the last few weeks, the altcoin has followed a downward trend, losing much of its gain.

From trading above $250, analysts are already predicting that SOL may drop to $125. This projected price level is tied to the potential coin’s inability to sustain the $160 support.

It is worth noting that market trader ‘best_analysts’ recently highlighted the $200 resistance level as a key rejection zone.

This revelation further reinforces the SOL’s bearish outlook. Overall, there is selling pressure in the SOL ecosystem, and concerns about further downside risks have been raised.

However, in the meantime, the coin has recorded a slight recovery, probably triggered by the Sol Strategies and Tetra Trust partnership.

At press time, SOL price traded at $174.01, corresponding with a 2.33% increase in the last 24 hours.

Solana ETF Advantage

On the one hand, the prospect for Solana ETF approval remains high

Franklin Templeton submitted one of the most recent filings for this product with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm officially registered the Franklin Solana Trust entity to launch its spot Solana ETF.

The SEC recently confirmed Canary Capital’s Solana ETF proposal after financial institutions demonstrated a growing interest in SOL ETF.

The approval of a Solana ETF could mark a vital turning point as it can potentially increase institutional capital flows.

Solana crypto can also mirror the performance of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs. This could validate SOL as a true financial asset that may attract hedge funds, pension funds, and retail investors.

More than the previous $250 price levels, this ETF may bring SOL on the road to reaching $500 price mark. However, this forecast hinges on the outlook of the broader crypto industry moving forward.