Wintermute Withdraws $40M of Solana From Binance Ahead of Token Unlock, SOL Price Drops 7.5%

Crypto market maker Wintermute withdrew over $38.2 million worth of Solana SOLUSD from the Binance exchange in the 24 hours leading up to 9:02 am UTC on Feb.

Crypto market maker Wintermute withdrew nearly $40 million worth of Solana (SOL) from Binance on Feb. 24, as the project prepares for its largest token unlock to date.

According to data from crypto intelligence firm Arkham Intelligence, Wintermute transferred over $38.2 million worth of SOL from Binance in the 24 hours leading up to 9:02 am UTC on Feb. 24.

The withdrawals come as Solana is gearing up for a massive $2 billion token unlock, which will release over 11.2 million SOL tokens into circulation on March 1.

Solana’s native token price fell by over 7.5% in the past 24 hours to an over three-month low of $155, last seen at the beginning of November 2024.

However, some crypto industry watchers are concerned that the token unlock may introduce significant selling pressure for Solana, as a substantial portion of the locked supply was reportedly purchased at a discount in FTX auctions.

Crypto analyst Artchick.eth highlighted that over the next three months, more than 15 million SOL — valued at roughly $2.5 billion — will enter circulation.

According to the analysis, many of these tokens were acquired by firms like Galaxy Digital, Pantera Capital and Figure at a price of $64 per SOL in FTX auctions:

Meanwhile, crypto trader RunnerXBT pointed out that it was a “dangerous” period to buy Solana, emphasizing that Galaxy Digital, Pantera and Figure stand to gain $3 billion, $1 billion and $150 million, respectively, in unrealized profits once their SOL unlocks.

The implication is that most of these companies are likely to sell their allocations, given the lack of incentive to hold SOL amid worsening market sentiment, which was further exacerbated by the recent Libra (LIBRA) memecoin scam.

The memecoin, endorsed by Argentine President Javier Milei, was promoted as having President Milei’s full support and being backed by the government.

However, the project’s insiders allegedly siphoned over $107 million in liquidity in a rug pull, leading to a 94% price collapse within hours and wiping out $4 billion in investor capital.