SOL, Solana network’s native cryptocurrency, slipped below $10 for the first time since February 2021 and is holding onto $9.71. The altcoin is down by 9.79% in the last 24 hours, and down nearly 20% in the past week.
The price slip comes amid a continued stream of negative narrations surrounding the Solana ecosystem and the ongoing FTX case. Earlier this week, Solana’s top two NFT projects DeGods and y00ts jumped onto the Ethereum and Polygon blockchains to expand their reach. Since November 2021, SOL has lost nearly 96% of its value.
The new turmoil in the Solana ecosystem can be largely attributed to the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX crypto exchange and Alameda Research. SBF was a supporter of Solana and had invested millions in Solana ecosystem and the token SOL. When FTX fell apart, Solana took a huge hit because of the close association. But it managed to stabilize in early December and SOL tried to ground itself at $13. However, with ongoing uncertainty in the broader crypto market brought in by macroeconomics, SOL like its fellow cryptocurrencies couldn’t sustain its price.
Solana enthusiasts believe SBF is behind the dumping of tokens. Traders say SOL tokens might be getting dumped too as SBF is rumoured to have artificially boosted the price of the altcoin. Now SOL’s price drop under the psychologically important $10 level has opened the door to a further cascade of selling that could prompt the altcoin to test key long-term support at $5.20. But if it slips past this, SOL could touch the lows of $2.50.
