Solana exited the consolidation zone as it could not maintain its upward momentum after last week's price stagnation, delaying the recovery towards the $150 level. Since then, the SOL price has been moving cautiously and is awaiting a stronger confirmation signal.
Recent on-chain and institutional activity indicates that investors are positioning for a recovery. This picture may prepare the ground for a new price strengthening by the end of the year or early January.
Solana owners are linked to the ETF chain
The Solana ecosystem introduces a new catalyst with the on-chain 'Creator ETF' through Bands. These products, made available via Bands.fun, differ from traditional exchange-traded products. Creator ETFs that operate directly on the Solana blockchain attract attention as programmable portfolios created by content creators, analysts, or influencers.
Creator ETFs can aggregate tokens or NFTs and automatically balance them according to predetermined rules. If these products are more widely adopted, on-chain activity and trading volume may increase. More intensive network usage tends to support price recovery, as it would increase demand for SOL as a utility-focused asset.
Institutions See Potential
Cryptocurrency exchange balances are also sending a positive signal. Solana balances on centralized cryptocurrency exchanges have significantly decreased in the last 10 days. During this period, investors accumulated approximately 2,650,000 SOL; which is worth $345 million.
Decreasing balances on exchanges usually indicate accumulation rather than distribution. Investors' willingness to withdraw their assets to their own wallets reduces short-term selling pressure. This behavior suggests an increased confidence in Solana’s long-term outlook and indicates that prices may stabilize after recent weakness.
To avoid missing more token analysis, you can subscribe to Editor Harsh Notariya’s Daily Crypto Bulletin here.
Despite widespread market uncertainty, there is a resilient picture regarding institutions' views on Solana. According to CoinShares' weekly report, there was a total inflow of $48.5 million into SOL during the week of December 20. Total inflows for December have now reached $117.6 million.
Such asset allocations indicate that institutional interest is being sustained steadily. Professional investors generally accumulate during price stagnation. Continued fund flows into investments can alleviate the pressure created by individual sales and can lay the groundwork for recovery when market conditions improve.
Solana is currently trading at around $124 and is hovering below the $126 resistance. If on-chain innovations, outflows from exchanges, and institutional interest combine, the likelihood of a recovery for SOL by the end of December or early January may increase.
A breakout above $126 will be interpreted as the first recovery signal. Reclaiming $130 would further strengthen investor sentiment. The main upward target is around $136. Exceeding this level would indicate that the losses experienced at the beginning of the month are starting to be recovered.
Downward risks persist if strong selling resumes or if weakness in the overall market continues. A drop in the Solana price below $123 could bring the $118 support into play. Losing this level would invalidate the bullish scenario and could delay any potential recovery triggered by catalysts from the ecosystem or the institutional side.
