Solana News Today: Institutional Optimism Clashes With Bearish Signals as Solana Slides

Solana's daily active addresses have plummeted to a 12-month low of 3.3 million, signaling a waning in the network's recent meme coin-driven frenzy according to reports. The decline, which follows a peak of over 9 million addresses earlier this year, has raised questions about the sustainability of Solana's growth amid shifting investor sentiment. Despite the drop, proponents remain cautiously optimistic, citing the recent success of the Bitwise Solana ETF (BSOL), which debuted with $57 million in trading volume, and institutional adoption gains such as SoFi Bank's integration of SOL purchases into its checking accounts.

The retreat in active addresses coincides with a cooling of meme coin enthusiasm, a key driver of Solana's surge in 2024. Meme tokens like POPCAT, once a standout performer, have faltered, with the project recently down 3% after a $5 million exploitation incident.

Meanwhile, Pump.fun-a Solana-based token launchpad-continues to dominate the ecosystem, capturing 90% of on-chain activity and generating over $1 million daily. Analysts suggest the platform's resilience reflects lingering interest in speculative opportunities, even as broader participation wanes.

The Bitwise ETF's debut has injected a layer of institutional credibility into Solana. Launched on October 28, the fund has attracted $370 million in cumulative inflows over 13 consecutive days, outpacing early outflows in Bitcoin and Ether ETFs. This demand underscores Solana's appeal to traditional investors, who are increasingly drawn to its high throughput and dominance in decentralized exchange (DEX) trading volume. However, the ETF's success has not translated into bullish price action for SOL, which has fallen 34% over two weeks to $142-a level not seen since June.

Technical indicators paint a mixed picture. While the ETF inflows suggest long-term institutional interest, SOL has broken below critical support levels, including a 100-week moving average and a multi-year uptrend established in early 2023. Glassnode data reveals minimal on-chain support below $140, with the UTXO realized price distribution showing sparse buy clusters in that range. This has sparked fears of a potential drop to $95, the year's low. Yet bulls argue the ETF's performance and Solana's foundational strengths-such as its leadership in on-chain revenue-justify a more optimistic outlook.

The divergence between on-chain metrics and institutional enthusiasm highlights the broader crypto market's fragility. While Solana's ecosystem remains robust, the drop in active addresses underscores the challenges of sustaining momentum in a market prone to rapid shifts. Investors are now weighing whether the ETF-driven optimism can offset the bearish technical setup or if the network will face further downward pressure in the near term.