After a promising start to 2025, Solana price has shed nearly 45% from its peak within just one month.
A broader look at the cryptocurrency market reveals that what initially seemed a full-fledged bull run was abruptly halted by recent inflation data. High inflation — or even a slowdown in its decline — forces the Federal Reserve to halt its rate-cutting cycle, potentially keeping rates steady or even increasing them in the future. Persistently elevated rates reduce market liquidity, and highly speculative assets like cryptocurrencies are often the first to take a hit from such monetary tightening. A quick glance at a crypto heatmap reflects the extent of this downturn, with red dominating across major digital assets, indicating widespread losses.
Solana, however, has not only been affected by unfavorable market conditions — it has also underperformed compared to other cryptocurrencies due to two major factors. First, recent scandals involving so-called meme coins — most of which have turned out to be scams (for example, the LIBRA case) — built on Solana’s ecosystem have further damaged its reputation. Second, an unlock of 11.2 million SOL tokens, valued at roughly $2.2 billion, stemming from FTX’s bankruptcy auction, added to investor concerns. Let’s take a closer look at these events and their impact.
Since 2024, the meme coin trend — tokens with no underlying utility — has surged. The most famous example is the launch of TRUMP and MELANIA by the U.S. President and First Lady. More recently, LIBRA, another meme coin promoted by Argentina’s President Javier Milei, has been exposed as a classic rug pull scam, with its price crashing 95% shortly after launch. On-chain analytics firm Bubblemaps released a study today suggesting that the creators of MELANIA are the same ones behind LIBRA, revealing a complex web of transactions linking the two projects.
These are just the most high-profile scams; unfortunately, several pump-and-dump schemes on the Solana network have further eroded confidence. Such activities have led to a significant drop in trading volumes on DEXs, further dragging down the token’s value.
Adding to the concerns is the unlock of over 11 million SOL tokens occurred on March 1, originating from FTX’s bankruptcy auction, with a market value exceeding $2 billion.
Following FTX’s collapse, the exchange liquidated its Solana holdings through three separate auctions, selling a total of 41 million SOL to various institutional investors.
Key buyers include Galaxy Digital, Pantera Capital, and Figure — firms renowned for executing Over-the-Counter (OTC) transactions. The sudden release of such a large volume of SOL could trigger multiple market reactions: a flood of new tokens could disrupt the supply-demand balance, potentially pushing prices lower if investors rush to sell. On the other hand, if these institutional buyers choose to hold onto their SOL, the impact may be more contained. Although these investors purchased SOL through OTC deals to avoid immediate effects on the spot market, their future decisions — whether to hold or sell — will inevitably influence spot prices.
For investors, closely watching institutional buyers’ actions in the short term will be crucial, as it could present opportunities to capitalize on price dips. In the longer run, beyond the short-lived volatility, the growth of Solana’s network and its decentralized applications will be key to sustaining demand for SOL.
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