Solana (SOL) Drops Below $160 as Market Braces for Major Token Unlock Event

Solana (SOL) has fallen below $160 for the first time in 2025, marking a steep decline from its recent trading range.

Solana (SOL) has experienced a significant drop below the $160 level for the first time in 2025, continuing a steep decline from recent trading ranges.

On February 24, SOL dropped over 7% to reach $158.46, marking the lowest price point since October 2024. The price movement comes ahead of a major token unlock event.

On March 1, approximately 11.2 million SOL tokens, valued at $1.77 billion, will be unlocked from the FTX bankruptcy auction.

This event has created uncertainty among investors and traders, who are closely monitoring the potential impact on the market.

According to market analytics platforms, Solana has seen a 6.9% decrease in the past 24 hours, with the token trading at $159.29 at press time.

The weekly performance reveals an even steeper decline, with SOL dropping nearly 13%. The monthly metrics paint a broader picture of the downward trend, showing a 35% decrease over the past 30 days.

Solana's market capitalization currently stands at $78 billion, with a fully diluted valuation of $95 billion.

This represents a substantial decrease from recent weeks, with the project losing approximately $10 billion in market cap since February 24.

Trading activity across Solana’s decentralized exchanges (DEX) has also seen a notable decline.

DeFi Llama data shows the blockchain’s DEX volume has decreased by 36.7% in the past week.

Current weekly DEX volume stands at $16.6 billion, while daily DEX volume has settled at $1.5 billion.

Options trading data from Amberdata reveals interesting market dynamics.

SOL block trades on derivative exchange Deribit accounted for nearly 25% of all Solana options activity last week, totaling $32.39 million out of $130.74 million.

This marks the second-largest portion of SOL block trades ever recorded.

The market has seen a concentration of put options, with nearly 80% of block trades focused on these contracts.

This trading pattern often indicates that large investors are seeking protection against potential market volatility.

Recent market movements have triggered substantial liquidations.

After Solana’s price fell to $160, it caused $21 million in long liquidations.

The liquidation map shows a high concentration of potential forced sells between the $120 and $160 price zones.

Technical Analysis

Technical analysts, including Crypto_McKenna on X, suggest that Solana has become structurally bearish after losing support at the $167-$169 zone.

The current price action shows weak buying support, which could lead to further drops between $112 and $126.

Adding to market dynamics, PumpFun, a platform for launching meme coins on Solana, is testing its own Automated Market Maker (AMM) liquidity pools.

The platform has launched a beta version featuring a swap interface for trading SOL against meme coins.

This development could potentially impact trading activity on the network.

By introducing its own liquidity pool, PumpFun aims to make meme coin trading faster while increasing its revenue streams.

The platform’s history of driving activity on the Solana blockchain suggests that successful implementation of the AMM could boost network usage, although the immediate impact on price action remains to be seen.

Market participants are closely watching the behavior of firms that purchased tokens from the FTX bankruptcy auction.

Their decision to hold or sell could play a crucial role in price movement following the March 1 unlock.

Additional market factors include reports of a Bybit hacker laundering stolen funds using Solana meme coins, which has contributed to negative market sentiment.

The last time SOL traded below $160 was on October 20, 2024, when it closed at $159.64.

At press time, the token continues to trade around the $159 level, showing no immediate signs of recovery above the $160 threshold.