 ▲ Solana (SOL) © |
Despite a 57% drop in price, institutional funds have not exited, leading to analysis that Solana (SOL) is not merely staging a rebound but is undergoing a crucial test as it prepares for the next bullish cycle.
According to TradingNews on March 7 (local time), SOL was trading in the $83–$84 range, down about 4% ahead of the weekend. Although the price had previously rebounded 14% to reach an intraday high of $96, selling pressure emerged in the $95–$100 resistance zone, pushing it back down. Its market capitalization stands at approximately $40–$50 billion, and the price has declined about 57% since the launch of a spot ETF in July 2025.
Nevertheless, fund flows have remained unusually resilient. Cumulative inflows into Solana spot ETFs reached $1.45 billion as of March 2, surging from $410 million on October 23 last year. Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst Eric Balchunas explained that about 50% of those funds came from institutional investors required to file 13F reports. The outlet analyzed that the absence of large-scale redemptions during a 57% price drop suggests that long-term institutional allocations, rather than short-term trend-following capital, are holding firm.
Network metrics were also cited as supporting evidence of institutional holdings. Over the past three months, Solana’s transactions per second (TPS) increased 70% to 1,410, while daily new addresses rose 17%. In addition, stablecoin transaction volume hit a record high of $650 billion in February 2026. TradingNews assessed that these figures indicate Solana is expanding beyond a purely speculative platform into a functional financial infrastructure.
The technical roadmap is also drawing attention. The Alpenglow upgrade aims to reduce transaction finality time to 100–150 milliseconds. With current finality at approximately 400–800 milliseconds, such a reduction could enable broader use cases, including high-frequency trading, real-time payments, and options and derivatives systems. The outlet added that signs of a softer regulatory stance from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) could further ease the burden of digital asset allocation for institutional investors.
On the chart, the $83–$85 range is identified as a key retest zone. If defended on a daily closing basis, the previous breakout trend could remain intact, opening the door to targets above $100 and potentially up to $120. Conversely, a break below $75 raises the possibility of a retest of the $65–$70 range. The outlet added that Bitcoin needs to reclaim $72,000 for a full-fledged altcoin rotation to unfold.
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