Solana’s price was resilient despite continued selling pressure from the memecoin launch platform Pump.fun.
The fee account associated with Pump.fun sold over $6.6 million worth of Solana (SOL) tokens on Oct. 22.
This still leaves Pump.fun with a significant amount of Solana holdings, according to onchain intelligence firm Lookonchain’s Oct. 22 X post, which wrote:
“The Pump.fun Fee Account sold 40,000 SOL ($6.68M) again 5 hours ago! Pump.fun has generated total revenue of 969,945 SOL ($162M) and has sold 503,343 SOL ($78.7M) at an average price of $156.4 so far.”
Pump.fun sells $6.6 million SOL. Source: Lookonchain
Despite the sales, Solana’s price was up over 9.3% on the weekly chart. The world’s fifth-largest cryptocurrency rose 0.8% in the 24 hours leading up to 11:18 am UTC to trade at $165.8, according to Cointelegraph data.
SOL/USD, 1-month chart. Source: Cointelegraph
Whales, or large crypto-holding entities, can significantly impact a cryptocurrency’s price action due to the high amount of market-moving capital. Traders often follow whale selling patterns for cues on a cryptocurrency’s short-term price trajectory.
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Is Pump.fun pressuring Solana’s price?
Continued SOL selling from the fee account associated with Pump.fun may be pressuring the price.
In the week leading up to Sept. 4, Solana’s price fell over 12% to $128 shortly after Pump.fun sold $41 million in SOL tokens at an average price of $157.5 per token.
Pump.fun fee account. Source: Solscan
The memecoin launch platform could introduce more selling pressure, considering that its fee account holds another $47.9 million worth of Solana tokens, Solscan data shows.
Solana To $1,000?! You Can’t Ignore These SOL Updates! Source: YouTube
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Are memecoins a net positive for the SOL price?
The current memecoin craze on Solana could be pressuring the price of SOL.
According to crypto trader and podcast host Luke Martin, the Solana token’s rally turned into a crab walk when users started mass-launching meme tokens on Pump.fun.
The trader wrote in a Sept. 4 X post:
“When you overlay Pump.fun launches on top of the Solana price chart. $SOL stopped going up almost exactly when people started launching tons of memecoins.”
SOL price and Pump.fun memecoin launches. Source: Luke Martin
Still, anticipation around a potential Solana-based exchange-traded fund is growing, presenting the next potential price catalyst for SOL. Brazil’s first Solana ETF was approved on Aug. 7, setting a precedent for other global jurisdictions.
Magazine: VanEck files for Solana ETF, Ether supply inflates, and more: Hodler’s Digest, June 23-29