- Solana surged above $93 as whale activity and ETF inflows strengthened market sentiment.
- Traders built over $174 million in leveraged long positions expecting more upside.
- The $97.40 resistance zone remains the key breakout level traders are watching closely.
Solana is starting to regain serious momentum as whales, institutional investors, and short-term traders all appear to be leaning bullish during the latest crypto market recovery. After spending weeks trapped under heavy pressure, SOL finally pushed back above the $93 level on May 9, marking its highest trading price since March 18.
At the time of the move, Solana had climbed more than 6.5% on the day, while overall trading activity accelerated sharply across the market. According to CoinMarketCap data, trading volume surged more than 20% and crossed roughly $5.12 billion, signaling that confidence around the asset is beginning to rebuild again.
Whale and Institutional Demand Around SOL Continues Growing
One of the more notable developments came from a large crypto whale that suddenly became active again after remaining dormant for nearly seven months. According to blockchain tracker Lookonchain, the wallet purchased approximately 67,648 SOL worth around $6.23 million during the recent rally.
Large transactions like this tend to attract attention quickly because whales often position themselves before broader momentum becomes fully visible to retail markets. And this wasn’t the only sign of growing demand either.
Institutional interest also appeared to strengthen through spot Solana ETFs. Data from SoSoValue showed that U.S. spot SOL ETFs recorded roughly $6.23 million in inflows on May 8 alone, suggesting traditional investors are beginning to rotate capital back toward Solana exposure as market sentiment improves.
At the same time, derivatives data from CoinGlass revealed that leveraged traders are also leaning heavily bullish on SOL right now.
Leveraged Traders Position for More Upside
According to the latest liquidation heatmap data, the two most important short-term levels for Solana currently sit near $90.70 on the downside and around $94.50 on the upside.
What makes those zones important is the amount of leverage building around them. CoinGlass data shows traders have accumulated roughly $174.48 million worth of leveraged long positions compared to only about $42.75 million in short positions.
That imbalance strongly suggests that most traders are positioning for further upside continuation rather than preparing for a major reversal lower.
Of course, heavy leverage cuts both ways. If momentum continues building, short liquidations could accelerate upside movement pretty quickly. But if SOL suddenly reverses lower, overly aggressive long positioning could create additional volatility too.
For now though, the broader demand picture still appears constructive. Between whale accumulation, ETF inflows, and strong derivatives positioning, market participants clearly expect Solana’s recovery to continue, at least in the short term.
SOL Approaches a Major Resistance Wall
Despite the bullish momentum, Solana is now entering a technically important area where previous rallies struggled badly.
According to TradingView data, the $97.40 zone remains one of the biggest resistance levels on SOL’s daily chart. Historically, that area has repeatedly triggered sharp selling pressure whenever price approached it.
The last major test of that resistance ended with SOL falling from roughly $97.40 all the way down toward $76.85 after sellers aggressively defended the level. Naturally, traders are watching closely to see whether this attempt plays out differently.
If Solana manages to maintain current momentum and successfully close a daily candle above the $97.40 resistance zone, analysts believe the door could open for a much larger breakout move. In that scenario, SOL may potentially rally more than 21% toward the $118 region.
On the other hand, failure to break resistance convincingly could easily trigger another wave of profit-taking and short-term selling pressure.
Meanwhile, the Relative Strength Index currently sits near 68.32, placing SOL close to overbought territory but not fully there yet. That suggests momentum remains strong enough for additional upside, although the market is clearly approaching a decision point where volatility could increase quickly.
