Solana (SOL) Price Dips Below $150 After Recent Rally, But Institutional Interest Remains Strong

Solana has experienced a slight correction after its recent rally, with the price dipping below $150 on Thursday. The cryptocurrency had gained over 10%

Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) experienced a slight correction on Thursday as its price dipped below the $150 mark. The cryptocurrency had seen a rally of over 10% in less than a week before this pullback, highlighting the volatility that persists in the crypto market.

At press time, SOL traded at $148, down from Wednesday’s peak of $144. This retreat came despite improving sentiment across the broader cryptocurrency market.

Solana Price Action: Solana’s price action is closely watching key support levels around $140, which could help to stall the downward momentum if selling pressure continues.

The short-term price action will likely depend on whether bulls can manage to reclaim and hold the $150 level.

DeFi Development Corporation announced a substantial purchase of SOL. The company has acquired around 65,305 SOL tokens at an approximate price of $9.8 million.

With this latest purchase, DeFi Dev Corp’s total Solana holdings now stand at 317,273 SOL, valued at approximately $47.6 million when considering staking rewards.

DeFi Dev Corp is known for its strategy of accessing “locked discounted inventory” through BitGo’s over-the-counter desk, enabling them to accumulate SOL below market prices and strengthen their position within the Solana ecosystem.

Major Players Show Interest in Solana

Institutional interest in Solana extends beyond DeFi Dev Corp, as several major financial players have recently made moves to increase their exposure to SOL.

Galaxy Digital adjusted its strategy by divesting $106 million worth of Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) and redirecting those funds into Solana. This reallocation from the market’s second-largest cryptocurrency to SOL highlights the growing institutional preference for Solana.

SOL Strategies secured a $500 million convertible notes agreement with ATW Partners, a private investment entity that plans to acquire and stake SOL through its validator operations.

Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest also joined the Solana bandwagon with its first direct investment in SOL on April 21. This move by the high-profile investment firm has added further legitimacy to Solana as an institutional-grade asset.

These developments collectively suggest that Solana has been gaining favor among professional investors, potentially at Ethereum’s expense. The increased institutional backing could attract more retail investors looking to capitalize on positive momentum.

Solana Network Strength Improved

The Solana Foundation announced changes to its validator policy. The foundation will implement stricter criteria for validators participating in its Delegation Program.

Ben Hawkins, who leads Solana’s staking ecosystem, outlined that for every new validator added to the Solana Foundation Delegation Program mainnet delegation, three existing validators will be removed if they meet specific conditions.

These conditions include being eligible for delegation from the Solana Foundation on the mainnet for at least 18 months and holding less than 1,000 SOL in stake outside the Foundation’s delegation.

This policy change aims to reduce the number of validators that rely solely on the foundation’s stake. The initiative reflects the foundation’s commitment to building a more decentralized and robust network.

The announcement was received positively by the market, with SOL price briefly rising 1.63% following the news.

Solana Price Chart Patterns Signal Potential Gains

Technical analysts at Chaintrader.io identified several bullish patterns on Solana’s price charts that could drive further upside in the coming weeks.

The daily chart shows the formation of an inverse head-and-shoulders pattern, which typically signals a bullish reversal. If this pattern completes, it projects a potential 32% move to $176, based on the pattern’s height measured from the neckline to the head.

Solana’s price remains positioned above key technical indicators, including the 50, 100, and 200-day Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs). This positioning generally indicates bullish market conditions.

Over the past two weeks, SOL has bounced from $95.26 to $150.9, breaking above the previous swing high resistance at $147. This breakout, combined with reclaiming the 20-day and 50-day exponential moving averages, supports the renewed bullish sentiment.

If SOL maintains its position above $147, buyers could push for another 18% gain, targeting the $180 resistance level. However, if sellers push the price below this support, it could indicate a false breakout and potentially extend the correction toward $100.

Well-known trader Peter Brandt has identified a “cup and handle” formation in the SOL/ETH trading pair. This classic bullish pattern suggests Solana could significantly outperform Ethereum if SOL breaks above the key resistance level at 0.085 on this pair.

This C&H is still playing out, by the way.SOL has lots of room to gain on its invalid cousin, $ETHpic