Solana’s Recent Market Performance and Influences
Solana’s recent price rise coincides with significant SOL transfers by FTX and Alameda this quarter. Could a large sell-off impact the price?
Solana (SOL) has recorded gains in the past week, but two substantial holders of SOL can potentially influence the market. On-chain analytics firm Spot On Chain reported on Friday that Solana has seen a significant rise in price in 24 hours. At press time, Solana’s surge in the 24-hour frame is close to 6% based on CoinGecko data.
Spot On Chain pointed out that the surge propelled SOL ahead of Binance Coin (BNB) in terms of market capitalization.
FTX’s SOL Sales This Quarter
The firm’s analysis of key on-chain data also revealed that FTX and Alameda transferred approximately 13.22 million SOL, valued at around $666 million, to various exchanges from October 24 to December 14, 2023. The firm traced the transactions from two public SOL addresses and another FTX-related address to exchanges and likely Coinbase. This leaves an estimated 2.08 million SOL available for immediate trade, as per the report.
It is also reported that only 27% of FTX’s total SOL holdings, approximately 15.3 million SOL, have been unlocked. Therefore, they reportedly possess about 2 million SOL, worth approximately $192 million, at their disposal for liquidation. This is a significant amount to influence the price of SOL.
Impact of Potential Sell-Off
Spot On Chain noted that 40.5 million SOL, or 73% of the holding valued at nearly $4 billion, is set to be gradually released on schedule. Roughly 609,000 SOL are unlocked each month, and significant amounts are set for release in early 2025. Based on this schedule, Spot on Chain finds that it is unlikely that FTX and Alameda’s potential future sell-offs of SOL will significantly impact the market in the near term.
The price of SOL has experienced around a 30% increase over the past week. However, the analytics firm underlined that the role of FTX and Alameda as major holders of SOL remains a focal point.
At the time of FTX’s bankruptcy, CoinGecko estimated FTX and Alameda’s SOL holdings at 55.8 million, worth $1.16 billion at the time. SOL topped the holding followed by Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).
