Solana Price Plummets As Meme Coin Scams & Sell-Off Risks Grow

Key Insights:

• $2.06B in SOL unlock set for March 1 amid sell-off concerns
• SOL price drops 40% from January peak as meme coin scams rise
• Solana breaks key support; trading volume down 25% in a week

Solana (SOL) price faces market uncertainty as events continue to affect its price and investor sentiment. The continued market volatility has raised worries, with SOL prices dropping by 19% the previous week.

At the same time, the token experienced a 40% lower value than the January peak, as per the CoinMarketCap data. The decreased trading volume on decentralized exchanges (DEXs) demonstrates reduced market operations and lower exchangeability.

The 11.2 million SOL tokens, valued at $2.06 Billion, have increased market pressure. This year’s March 1st will mark their availability of them.

The 11.2 million SOL from the FTX bankruptcy auction will be unlocked on March 1, worth $2.06 billion, according to @ai_9684xtpa. FTX sold 41 million SOL in three auctions, and the top three buyers bought at prices of $64, $95, and $102. Including OTC traders Galaxy, Pantera,…

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) February 17, 2025

These Solana tokens were acquired through FTX’s bankruptcy auction with participating companies. This includes Galaxy Digital, Pantera Capital, and Figure.

Market participants worry about future sell-offs occurring after the release of this substantial token supply. It might cause further price decline.

Solana Price Drop Amid Rug Pulls and Insider Trading Investigations

Moreover, the market lost confidence when two rug pull incidents targeted the $LIBRA and $CAR meme coins. The creators behind LIBRA tokens also operated past projects that proved short-lived.

This further led to worries about renewed instances of fraudulent operations. Also, the platform owner @Stoolpresidente used 6 million $LIBRA tokens to reimburse the money to the creator of the tokens. However, no official details were provided regarding the conditions of this transaction.

The uncertainty surrounding meme coins continued to increase because of the investigation into possible insider trading activities. Then, Bitcoin (BTC) and the Solana price dropped to $95,000 and $160, respectively.

The entire cryptocurrency market valuation currently amounts to $3.14 Trillion despite experiencing a decline of 1.4%. The dominance percentage of Bitcoin has reached 60.3% but shows a slight decrease of -0.011%.

The Fear & Greed Index sat at 38 at press time, positioning in the fear category. However, it showed conflicting market sentiment.

Solana Price Declining Volume and Technical Breakdown

Meanwhile, the SOL DEX exchange trading volume recorded a 25% decrease during the last week. Traders on the Solana-based decentralized exchange Raydium have terminated 47% of their trading operations.

Meme coins are having a negative impact on Solana. A recent rug pull involving LIBRA has heightened investor concerns: SOL has dropped by 10% over the past week and by 40% from its January peak. DEX trading volumes have fallen by 25% in the last week, while Raydium saw a 47%… pic.twitter.com/TFtOnibrrv

— Axel 💎🙌 Adler Jr (@AxelAdlerJr) February 17, 2025

The decrease in trading activity signals diminished trader interest that may panic the market further. The technical analysis shows SOL breaking through the rising wedge pattern, which signals market negativity.

The Solana price fell beneath two essential trendline supports at $180. Moving ahead, the token reached $167.72, with a 5.52% decrease.

Technical indicators showed declining momentum. This happened as the Relative Strength Index stood at 30 and was approaching its minimum value.

The Awesome Oscillator has established a negative trend because it currently shows a reading of -30.23. This also supported the continuation of downward price movement.

Concerns Over Exchange Prioritization of Meme Coins

Crypto expert Benjamin Cowen has voiced criticism toward cryptocurrency exchanges. That’s because they actively list meme coins instead of utility-driven projects.

He claimed that urging people to “build” while just listing memecoins is unethical. Projects that attempt to construct anything are frequently disregarded or subject to high listing fees. The memecoins, however, are frequently listed for free.

Exchanges should stop listing and prioritizing memecoins.

It’s hypocritical to tell people to “build” while primarily just listing memecoins.

The projects that try to build anything are often ignored or face huge listing fees, while the memecoins are often listed for free.

— Benjamin Cowen (@benjamincowen) February 17, 2025

According to his assessment, the exchange listings represent meme coins as dominant projects. This is despite genuine business ventures encountering difficulties in gaining market recognition.

The rise in meme coin activity caused increased market volatility. This escalated, particularly following recent cases of rug pulls, which highlighted the risks of investing in these coins.

Market Outlook and Key Levels to Watch

Large holders of SOL tokens anticipate the imminent unlocking of 11.2 million tokens. During this time, they will determine whether to sell or hold their positions.

Solana price will likely slide to $150 or below if market selling power intensifies. With the price below $180, the asset is in for a prolonged decrease.

Meme coin speculation and declining liquidity have influenced the market behavior at this time. Despite positive market sentiments, SOL might experience additional short-term price drops if investors fail to resume demand for its tokens.

Disclaimer

In this article, the views and opinions stated by the author or any people named are for informational purposes only, and they don’t establish the investment, financial, or any other advice. Trading or investing in cryptocurrency assets comes with a risk of financial loss.