Solana Price Drops to $150 Despite Record Transactions

Solana (SOL) Drops to $150 Despite Surging On-Chain Activity: What’s Driving the Market Divergence?

Solana (SOL) Price Dips Despite On-Chain Surge: Why Traders Are Still Betting Long

Solana (SOL), one of the most prominent Layer-1 blockchain networks, experienced a 3.5% price drop in the past 24 hours, falling to $150.67. This decline reverses the asset’s 6.15% weekly gain, raising questions about the broader market dynamics behind the shift.

A deeper dive into the data reveals a disconnect between on-chain and off-chain activity—with blockchain-level metrics painting one picture, while spot and derivatives market behavior suggests another. KriptoNovini.bg unpacks this complex divide to understand what’s really going on with Solana.

On-Chain Activity Is Booming—But It’s Not Lifting Prices

Despite SOL’s price pullback, on-chain activity on the Solana network has surged significantly in the past month.

According to blockchain analytics platform Nansen, total transactions on Solana jumped by 35% over the last 30 days, reaching an impressive 2 billion transactions. This signals increased network usage and growing developer or dApp engagement.

DeFiLlama further supports this trend, reporting that on-chain trading volume on Solana hit $61.5 billion over the past month. In just the last 24 hours, the network facilitated $2.078 billion in trading volume.

These figures position Solana as the second-highest chain in terms of trading volume, trailing only Binance Smart Chain (BSC) and outperforming Ethereum, Base, and Sui.

Key Stats:

2 Billion transactions in 30 days

$61.5 Billion monthly volume

$2.07 Billion in 24-hour volume

#2 in blockchain volume, behind BSC

Ordinarily, high transaction volume combined with rising network usage is viewed as a bullish signal, indicating a thriving ecosystem and elevated demand for the underlying token. However, SOL’s price trajectory suggests otherwise—highlighting a critical divergence between activity and valuation.

Active Users Decline: A Warning Sign?

While transactions are up, the number of weekly active users on Solana has dropped sharply—raising potential red flags.

According to Artemis, Solana’s weekly active user base has dropped to 22 million, a low not seen since early May. This drop comes despite the increase in overall network activity, suggesting that a smaller cohort of high-frequency users or bots may be driving the transaction metrics rather than organic user growth.

SOL Active Users

Down to 22 million weekly

Matches levels last seen in May 2024

Bearish divergence from volume trend

The fall in unique user participation alongside rising transaction counts and trading volumes could indicate that speculative or arbitrage-driven behavior is dominating the blockchain. This might explain why prices are falling despite bullish on-chain metrics—as users may be taking profits or exiting their positions amid volatility.

Exchange Flows Tell a Different Story: Investors Are Accumulating

While the on-chain data hints at declining confidence, exchange flow data tells a different story—one that suggests renewed accumulation.

According to CoinGlass, $27.5 million worth of SOL tokens were moved from centralized exchanges to private wallets in the last 24 hours. This type of movement is often interpreted as bullish, since it typically reflects investors withdrawing assets to hold long-term, rather than keeping them liquid for potential sale.

SOL Net Exchange Flow (24h):

$27.5M outflows from exchanges

Indicates increased investor confidence

Reduces sell-side pressure on exchanges

Solana On-Chain Activity Hits Record Highs as Price Dips—Breakout Imminent or Bull Trap?

This trend could reduce circulating supply on trading platforms and increase buy-side demand, creating upward price pressure if demand holds steady or increases.

Futures Market Reflects a Buyer-Dominated Sentiment

In addition to spot market flows, derivatives data further supports the case for growing bullish sentiment around SOL.

The Open Interest Weighted Funding Rate—a key indicator that reflects whether long or short positions are dominant in perpetual futures contracts—was recorded at +0.0025% at the time of writing. A positive funding rate means that long positions (buyers) are outnumbering short positions (sellers).

Key Derivatives Metric:

Funding Rate: +0.0025%

Suggests longs are dominant

Reflects growing confidence in a rebound

Increased open interest and positive funding rates typically signal bullish momentum building among sophisticated traders and institutions who use futures to hedge or speculate on near-term price action.

Market Divergence: What’s Behind the Conflicting Signals?

The current Solana price narrative is a classic example of market divergence, where different metrics tell opposing stories:

IndicatorTrendInterpretation

On-chain transactions	Up 35%	Bullish
Trading volume	High ($61.5B/month)	Bullish
Active users	Down to 22M	Bearish
Exchange outflows	$27.5M	Bullish
Futures funding rate	Positive	Bullish
Price movement	-3.5%	Bearish

Such divergence suggests that short-term traders may be driving the price action, while long-term holders and institutions are accumulating. Meanwhile, network activity is booming, but the quality of that activity (i.e., from real users vs. bots) remains questionable.

What’s Next for Solana?

The short-term outlook for Solana is mixed but potentially favorable:

Bullish Indicators:

Strong network activity
High trading volume
Exchange outflows
Positive funding rate

Bearish Indicators:

Price decline
Falling active user base

Should buying pressure continue in the spot and derivatives markets, and user metrics stabilize, Solana could mount a recovery back above the $160–$170 resistance range.

However, continued user drop-off or broader market weakness could drag prices further down, possibly testing the $140–$145 support zone.

Final Thoughts

Solana's recent price dip to $150.67 masks an otherwise highly active and dynamic ecosystem. With transaction volumes soaring, institutional interest rising, and investors withdrawing SOL from exchanges, the fundamentals suggest a potential rebound may be in the making.

Yet, the drop in unique active users and price volatility reminds investors that strong metrics do not always guarantee immediate price appreciation.

For those watching the altcoin space, Solana remains a high-beta asset with promising long-term fundamentals—but it’s equally vulnerable to short-term sentiment shifts. As always, risk management is key.