On April 4th, the whale address received one of the largest single Solana (SOL) unlocks on the upcoming schedule. The unlocking of 379,700 SOL is causing additional selling pressure.
A whale received one of the largest daily unlocks until 2028, with a total of 379,700 SOL. Within hours after the SOL exited the storage account, most of it was sent to Kraken, Coinbase, or other addresses. After holding for over two years, the whale wallet retained only 644.82 SOL. The whale wallet initially received funding from an Opensea NFT investor wallet, with funds obtained as SOL emerged from the bear market.
With the trading value of SOL at approximately $116.07, the whale’s holdings can be liquidated for $44.47 million. The whale’s sales coincide with the general downturn in the cryptocurrency market as the Solana ecosystem attempts to maintain its activity levels. The whale’s stake is the largest among all unlocks on April 4th, which includes other large-scale staking entities.
The Market Must Absorb
In March, early wallets from FTX also contributed to the situation. The tokens received were used for holdings, gaining additional rewards. The Solana chain retains an inflation rate of 4.62%, although sudden unlocks may lead to additional selling pressure. Currently, the SOL market is absorbing the regular daily unlocks, which will continue to unlock linearly until 2030.
Significant unlocks are anticipated before a series of additional inflows in April and May, mainly associated with SOL’s Alameda and FTX bankruptcy. In April, the total unlock volume for the entire program is higher, with over 2.7 million SOL available for trade, following several months of slow supply growth. The latest unlock will increase the circulating SOL to over 514 million tokens.
Overall, the Solana market will need to absorb an additional $7.5 billion within three months, before concluding a series of highly active unlock sequences.
More Whales Liquidate Unlocked SOL
On-chain data indicates that three additional large sellers liquidated their SOL balances. One whale liquidated $9.47 million in SOL, retaining 78,469 SOL staked. The next whale sold $3.53 million in SOL while retaining another 68,000 SOL staked. The last whale sold 25,501 SOL, estimated at $3 million, with no remaining SOL staked.
In total, Solana will allocate tokens valued at $200 million to other whales and small holders, with sales potentially being unpredictable. Currently, whales have indicated they are prepared to secure at least some profits in case SOL prices remain depressed.
Despite the recent price decline, four significant whales deposited SOL in 2021, and according to Arkham Intelligence, their initial investment has increased by an average of 5.5 times.
Not all whales from the same staking queue have moved their tokens, and more SOL remains idle in inactive accounts. However, whales will have the right to move and allocate SOL or sell tokens on the open market.
Can SOL Rally After the Latest Unlock?
For SOL, the latest inflow represents the last cliff unlock for the next few years, allowing the market to absorb fewer tokens through linear inflows. SOL still needs to serve as a liquidity asset for DEX and lending.
Based on Santiment analysis, the Solana ecosystem is regaining attention, and SOL is expected to recover. SOL has not yet entered oversold territory, but is increasingly approaching other oversold assets.
SOL remains outside of oversold territory but shows relatively higher strength compared to other crypto assets. | Source: Crypto Weapon
Open interest in SOL has increased over the past day from $2 billion to $2.2 billion. Short positions have dropped to 21%, opening the door for potential long liquidations. For SOL, retail and crowd sentiment is slightly bearish, while smart money appears more bullish.
Bearish predictions suggest that if whale selling continues, SOL may dip down to $90. Significant holders have also sent their SOL to exchanges outside the unlock schedule as overall crypto activity has slowed.
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