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Solana Price Prediction For March 2026: Breakdown Continues?

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Solana Broke Down As February Started

Solana enters March under heavy pressure. SOL is down over 31% month on month, with February alone delivering a 17% loss. But the Solana price decline is only part of the problem. Underneath the chart, the economic engine that powered Solana through late 2025 — its memecoin ecosystem — has broken down. And the on-chain data tracking holders, exchange flows, and DEX activity all confirm the same thing: the selling is structural, not seasonal.

The question for March is no longer whether Solana can bounce. It is whether anything can stop the pattern already in motion from reaching its target.

Bearish Pattern Meets A Broken Engine

The 3-day chart reveals a confirmed head-and-shoulders pattern, with the neckline near $107 breaking around January 31. The measured move from that breakdown, roughly 44% from the neckline, places the technical target near $59.

SOL currently trades around $87, meaning the pattern is only partially fulfilled. From here, approximately 30% of additional downside remains if the move completes.

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Solana Broke Down As February Started
Solana Broke Down As February Started: TradingView

What makes this setup more convincing is that the neckline break coincided with the collapse of the very ecosystem driving Solana’s on-chain economy — its memecoin sector.

In the week ending February 2, Solana’s total DEX volume stood at $118.2 billion, with Pump.fun accounting for $61.4 billion and Meteora contributing $20.1 billion. By the week ending February 23, total volume had crashed to $44.5 billion — a 62% decline, per exclusive Dune data pulled by BeInCrypto analysts. Pump.fun dropped to $30.5 billion. Meteora collapsed 83% to just $3.4 billion.

Solana DEX Volume
Solana DEX Volume: Dune

The chart breakdown and the memecoin collapse are not separate events. The pattern started forming as confidence was already cracking. And without its primary revenue driver, Solana now faces the rest of the measured move with weakened fundamentals underneath it.

History And SOL Holders Offer No Relief

In past cycles, seasonal data would offer some hope here. March carries a median gain of 22.8% for Solana, and February’s historical average sits near positive 28.9%. But February 2026 returned -17%, and January delivered a 15% loss, as opposed to a +47% average.

Two consecutive red months already break the seasonal playbook. The “red month, green month” narrative no longer holds when the pattern has failed twice in a row — and the drivers behind those losses are structural, not cyclical.

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Solana Price History
Solana Price History: CryptoRank

The holder data reinforces this. In early February, when DEX volume was peaking at $118.2 billion, the Exchange Net Position change metric, showing netflows, was deeply negative — tokens were flowing off exchanges, a classic accumulation signal. That behavior matched the on-chain optimism at the time.

By February 26, the picture had fully inverted. Exchange net inflows surged to 1,561,859 SOL on a 30-day rolling basis — up roughly 40% from the 1,106,796 level seen just three days earlier on February 23. As the memecoin economy collapsed and DEX volumes cratered, holders possibly responded by moving tokens to exchanges for liquidation.

Exchange Flows
Exchange Flows: Glassnode

Long-term conviction holders tell the same story from the other side. The Hodler net position change metric — a measure of accumulation by longer-term wallets — peaked in late January (near the pattern breakdown) around 3.47 million SOL on a 30-day rolling basis. By February 26, it had collapsed to just 266,744 SOL — a 92% decline and the monthly low.

Holders Buying Less: Glassnode

The buyers who would typically support a recovery are stepping back, not stepping in.

ETF Flows Remain The Lone Support

Against all of this, one data point stands in contrast. Solana spot ETFs maintained positive weekly inflows throughout February, even as Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs collectively bled. In the week ending February 20, SOL ETFs absorbed $14.31 million. By the week ending February 26, that figure had tripled to $43.13 million — the highest weekly inflow of the month.

ETFs Holding Strong: SoSo Value

Cumulative SOL ETF inflows have now surpassed $900 million since launch, with 12+ consecutive days of net inflows recorded in February.

The ETF bid is real. It suggests a floor will form at some point, and intermittent bounces should be expected. But it has not been enough. SOL dropped 17% in February despite almost uninterrupted institutional buying. The scale of on-chain selling, even on the sentimental side, currently outweighs ETF demand.

Key Solana Price Levels For March

The $80 zone has absorbed the most price action during this sell-off — multiple tests have occurred, making it the most significant near-term support. However, repeated retests tend to weaken a level, not strengthen it. A decisive break below $80 opens continuation toward $64, and then the head and shoulders target near $59.

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On the upside, strength does not return unless SOL reclaims $96, followed by $116 — the January fail-safe that now serves as the gateway to structural recovery. If $59 breaks, the next significant level on the 3-day chart sits near $41.

One catalyst could interrupt the bearish path. The Alpenglow upgrade — Solana’s most ambitious consensus overhaul targeting sub-second finality — is aiming for Q1 2026 mainnet deployment.

If details come in March, it could shift the narrative from memecoin chain to institutional-grade infrastructure.

Solana Price Analysis
Solana Price Analysis: TradingView

March will likely be defined by whether $80 holds. Above it, expect choppy consolidation with ETF-driven bounces. Below it, the measured move toward $59–64 becomes the base case. Until holder behavior reverses, DEX activity stabilizes, and Alpenglow delivers, the path of least resistance stays down.

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Inside LinkedIn Founder Reid Hoffman’s Ethereum Holdings

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Inside LinkedIn Founder Reid Hoffman's Ethereum Holdings


Former PayPal colleagues split strategies, as Hoffman goes long on Ethereum while Musk aligns with Bitcoin through corporate treasuries.

Reid Hoffman, the prominent venture capitalist and co-founder of the world’s leading professional networking service, LinkedIn, is heavily invested in Ethereum, according to Arkham Intelligence.

Data cited by the firm shows Hoffman holds $6.1 million worth of ETH in a publicly known address. He also owns a CryptoPunk NFT, which was purchased for 150 ETH late last year.

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Investment in Xapo

Hoffman has been a long-time supporter of crypto. He even led Greylock’s 2014 Series A investment in Xapo, a firm that built a Bitcoin wallet platform. He had then commented,

“Bitcoin has the potential to be a massively disruptive technology. It is the leading digital currency and it’s growing fast. As an investor and technologist, I am interested in bitcoin on three levels: As an asset, (i.e. a digital alternative to gold); as a currency (to create a new transactional layer on the internet); and as a platform (to build alternative kinds of financial applications).”

Nearly a decade later, in August 2023, Hoffman announced he would not act as a general partner in Greylock’s upcoming funds and instead opted to remain involved as a venture partner.

Meanwhile, his former PayPal colleague Elon Musk is backing Bitcoin, as Tesla, Inc. and SpaceX hold a combined $1.3 billion in Bitcoin on their balance sheets.

Short-Lived Gains

Earlier this week, Bitcoin and Ethereum each attracted gains after positive sentiment generated by a major US political speech by Donald Trump. But on Friday, both assets were slightly lower in early trading as broader technology stocks retreated.

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Additionally, broader institutional activity shows large stakeholders dynamically adjusting positions: analytics data indicate that SpaceX moved over 1,000 BTC (approximately $94.5 million in value at that time) to Coinbase Prime in late 2025 amid speculation about the company’s future public offering.

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On the Ethereum side, significant planned divestments by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin have drawn attention in recent weeks for the magnitude of tokens moved, even though the market remained largely unfazed by these sales.

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South Korea National Tax Service’s Mistake Resulted In $4.8 Million Crypto Loss

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South Korea National Tax Service’s Mistake Resulted In $4.8 Million Crypto Loss

South Korea National Tax Service just made a costly mistake resulting a huge crypto loss.

In an official press release, the agency published unredacted photos that exposed crypto wallet seed phrases. Within hours, an unknown actor used the information to drain 4 million Ethereum-based tokens, nominally worth $4.8 million, from seized wallets before returning them.

The funds were not dumped, but the incident exposes a serious operational security failure. It highlights the risks governments face when handling self-custodied digital assets without proper technical safeguards.

Key Takeaways

  • The Lapse: NTS press materials included high-resolution images of handwritten recovery phrases for seized Ledger hardware wallets.
  • The Asset: 4 million Pre-Retogeum (PRTG) tokens were taken, holding a theoretical value of $4.8 million but near-zero market liquidity.
  • The Outcome: The attacker funded the wallets with ETH for gas, moved the tokens, and eventually returned them to the original address.

The Leak: Tax Agency Publishes Ethereum Private Keys

On February 26, the National Tax Service announced it had seized roughly 8.1 billion KRW, about $5.61 million, from repeat tax delinquents. To showcase the enforcement action, officials released photos of the confiscated items, including a display labeled “Case 3.”

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Source: ntw

The problem was in the details. The images showed Ledger hardware wallets next to a sheet of paper with the 12-word seed phrases fully visible.

A local professor described the mistake bluntly, comparing it to publicly inviting someone to empty your wallet. The incident highlights a basic but critical gap in technical handling, especially as authorities increasingly seize and manage digital assets.

On-Chain Data: The Swipe and Return

On-chain data shows the wallets were drained soon after the photos went public. An unknown actor first sent a small amount of ETH to cover gas fees, then transferred 4 million Pre-Retogeum (PRTG) tokens to a new address.

Source: Etherscan

That amount represented roughly 40% of the token’s total supply. While early reports valued the stash at $4.8 million, liquidity tells a different story. The only active trading pair shows minimal volume, and even a small sell order would have crushed the price. Cashing out at scale was nearly impossible.

The tokens were later returned to the original wallets. Whether this was a white-hat action or simple realization that the assets were illiquid is unclear.

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The episode highlights a basic custody failure. The original owner used a hardware wallet for security, but that protection was undone when authorities photographed the seed phrase. The NTS has not yet issued a detailed statement, and the incident raises questions about how seized crypto assets will be handled going forward.

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Analysts Reject Jane Street Bitcoin Manipulation, Bitcoin ETF Demand Rises

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Analysts Reject Jane Street Bitcoin Manipulation, Bitcoin ETF Demand Rises

This week, rumors of a “10 a.m. Bitcoin dump” blamed on quantitative trading company Jane Street gained traction online after it was sued by Terraform Labs’ court-appointed administrator, but market watchers said the data does not support a consistent, company-driven selloff.

The accusations mounted a day after Jane Street was sued by Terraform Labs’ administrator amid allegations of insider trading that worsened the collapse of Terra’s algorithmic stablecoin ecosystem in May 2022.

Elsewhere in the market, demand for spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds returned after five consecutive weeks of net negative outflows. US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs took in over $1 billion in three consecutive days this week, with $254 million in cumulative inflows on Thursday, according to Farside Investors data.

Corporate Ether treasuries also came under pressure. The leader in corporate Ether (ETH), Bitmine Immersion Technologies, was seen facing an $8.8 billion paper loss on its holdings amid the ongoing market downturn.

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US Spot Bitcoin ETF Flows, in USD million. Source: Farside Investors

Analysts reject Jane Street “10 a.m. dump” claims, say Bitcoin isn’t easily manipulated

Cryptocurrency investors accused quantitative trading company Jane Street of pressuring Bitcoin’s price with a daily, programmatic sell-off at the US market open, but market analysts and data suggest the pattern is not consistent, and no single company can force Bitcoin into a prolonged bear market.

The claims surged online a day after Terraform Labs’ court-appointed administrator sued Jane Street, alleging insider trading tied to transactions that worsened the collapse of Terra’s algorithmic stablecoin ecosystem in May 2022.

Several market watchers, including crypto influencer Justin Bechler, have argued that Jane Street’s holding of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust exchange-traded fund (ETF), known as IBIT, could mask a net short Bitcoin position through hedges that do not appear in public filings. Bechler argued that Jane Street conducted coordinated algorithmic selling of Bitcoin at 10 a.m. EST daily, manipulating the Bitcoin (BTC) price to buy the ETF at a discount.

”When Jane Street reports holding $790 million in IBIT shares, the filing tells you nothing about whether those shares are hedged by puts, offset by short futures, or wrapped in a collar that makes the firm’s net Bitcoin exposure zero or even negative,” wrote Bechler, adding that the ”actual position could be a massive short that looks like a long because the offsetting half of the trade is invisible under current disclosure rules.”

CryptoQuant’s head of research, Julio Moreno, cautioned that the activity Bechler described is not unique to one company. He said buying spot exposure while selling futures is a common approach for delta-neutral funds seeking to capture spreads rather than directional price moves.

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Jane Street’s latest 13-F filing also disclosed holdings in Strategy, as well as sizable positions in Bitcoin mining companies Bitfarms, Cipher Mining and Hut 8.

Source: Julio Moreno

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Vitalik sells 17,000 ETH in one month after earmarking $45 million for privacy

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has reduced his Ether balance by about 17,000 ETH in one month after announcing plans to earmark $45 million worth of tokens for privacy projects.

Buterin’s wallets tracked by Arkham held about 241,000 Ether (ETH) in early February, before a series of outflows reduced the combined balance to 224,000 ETH on Tuesday.

The reduction came amid continued selling by Buterin, including about 2,961 Ether worth $6.6 million over a three-day period earlier in the month. Onchain analysts reported that this accelerated recently as he sold $7 million worth of tokens in three days.

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Buterin’s ETH balance declines since February. Source: Arkham

Arkham Intelligence data shows the ETH sales were routed via decentralized exchange (DEX) aggregator CoW Protocol using numerous smaller swaps instead of one large transaction, a method typically employed to minimize market impact.

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Bitmine paper loss nears $8.8 billion as Ether slump tests cyclical thesis

Corporate Ether treasuries are coming under increasing pressure as the crypto downturn deepens, with analysts warning the market is approaching a make-or-break phase for Ether’s investment case.

Bitmine Immersion Technologies, one of the biggest corporate holders of Ether (ETH), is sitting on a large unrealized loss as ETH trades well below the company’s average acquisition price, according to third-party tracker Bitminetracker. Some estimates put Bitmine’s paper losses in the $8.8 billion range after Ether’s slide over recent months.

ETH’s price has fallen 60% during the past six months, dropping well below Bitmine’s average cost basis of $3,843 per token, Bitminetracker data shows.

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Crypto research outlet 10x Research said Monday that Ether is now trading near valuation and cost-basis levels that test whether the asset is simply in a cyclical downturn or entering a period of deeper, structural weakness.

 “Investors must therefore assess carefully whether the asset is simply in a cyclical downturn or entering a phase of deeper structural impairment.”

Bitmine continues to buy ETH despite the mounting paper losses. Last week, Bitmine acquired 45,749 Ether at an average aggregate cost basis of $1,992 per ETH, signaling confidence from the world’s largest Ether treasury firm.

Source: 10x Research

Big Wall Street participants are maintaining exposure to Bitmine despite the market downturn.

The top 11 Bitmine shareholders, including Morgan Stanley, Ark Investment Management and asset manager BlackRock, have all increased their exposure to the treasury company during the fourth quarter of 2025.

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Bitmine’s stock price has fallen by about 59% over the past six months and traded at $19.68 in the pre-market on Monday, data from Google Finance showed.

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Aave surpasses $1 trillion in lending volume amid institutional expansion

Decentralized finance protocol Aave has surpassed $1 trillion in cumulative lending volume, marking a historic first in the DeFi industry.

“A decade ago, DeFi and Aave didn’t exist. They were just ideas. Today, Aave stands as the backbone of onchain lending, powering a new financial system that is open, global, and unstoppable,” Aave Labs CEO Stani Kulechov said in an X post on Wednesday.

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The feat marked another step toward Aave’s goal of becoming the “largest, most efficient liquidity network in the world,” Kulechov added. “One that builders, banks, and fintechs plug into by default, fundamentally improving liquidity and cost structures across global finance.”

Source: Aave

In August, Aave Labs launched Aave Horizon, a new lending market on Ethereum, specifically for traditional finance firms and other institutional investors to borrow stablecoins against real-world assets.

VanEck, WisdomTree and Securitize were among the first participants to use Aave’s institutional offering.

On Feb. 15, Kulechov said DeFi lending could benefit from tokenizing “abundance assets,” such as solar, batteries for energy storage and robotics for labor. He expects those assets to be worth a combined $50 trillion by 2050.

Kulechov originally launched Aave as ETHLend in November 2017 before rebranding to Aave in September 2018. It now secures over $27.2 billion in total value locked, enabling users to earn interest on deposits and borrow instantly using crypto as collateral.

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Aave leads several prominent DeFi lending platforms in TVL, including Morpho, JustLend, SparkLend, Maple, Kamin Lend and Compound Finance, each of which holds over $1 billion in total value locked.

Aave has generated over $83.3 million in fees over the last 30 days, nearly four times that of its next-closest competitor, Morpho.

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Curve founder says DeFi must ditch token emissions for real revenue

Decentralized finance (DeFi) can no longer rely on inflationary token incentives to sustain growth, according to Curve Finance founder Michael Egorov. 

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In an interview with Cointelegraph, Egorov said protocols must generate real revenue rather than depend on emissions to attract liquidity.

“Your yield should come from revenues, not from tokens,” Egorov told Cointelegraph. “You need real revenues flowing.” He added that if a token “is not doing something, maybe it’s better for you to not do token at all.”

Egorov contrasted the current environment with the “DeFi summer” of 2020, when triple-digit and even 1,000% annual percentage rates drew capital into new protocols. He said that at the time, speculative premiums drove token prices and bootstrapped total value locked (TVL) for protocols. 

“Right now, news doesn’t change prices of tokens anymore,” he told Cointelegraph, arguing that users have “re-evaluated the risks.”

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DeFi TVL in the last six months. Source: DefiLlama

His comments came as DeFi’s TVL has fallen about 38% over the past six months, according to DefiLlama. Data from the analytics platform shows TVL dropped from $158 billion on Aug. 23, 2025, to about $98 billion as of Monday.

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DeFi market overview

According to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView, most of the 100 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization ended the week in the green.

The Pippin (PIPPIN) token rose 55% as the week’s biggest gainer in the top 100, followed by the Decred (DCR) token, up over 44% during the past week.

Total value locked in DeFi. Source: DefiLlama

Thanks for reading our summary of this week’s most impactful DeFi developments. Join us next Friday for more stories, insights and education regarding this dynamically advancing space.