Solana Slides to Worst Weekly Performance in Top 10 as Whales Step Up Sales

The broader crypto market downturn has weighed heavily on major digital assets. However, Solana (SOL) has emerged as one of the steepest losers among the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. 

Over the past week, SOL has declined roughly 12%, underperforming its large-cap peers amid risk-off sentiment across markets.

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Solana Long-Term Holders Cash Out

While macro and geopolitical uncertainty have contributed to the decline, a wave of whale selling has added further pressure on the asset.

Blockchain analytics platform Lookonchain reported that a Solana holder who originally staked 991,079 SOL more than five years ago recently sold 30,000 SOL worth approximately $2.56 million. 

According to the analytics firm, the whale began unwinding positions roughly a year ago and has since sold 965,274 SOL valued at nearly $137.7 million. The wallet still reportedly holds 381,140 SOL, worth around $32.4 million, in staking positions.

Another whale, “GyBRmk,” cashed out a large portion of the stack they had held for over two years.

Pump.fun Resumes SOL Sales After Nine-Month Pause

Selling pressure has also resurfaced from meme coin launchpad Pump.fun. After a nine-month silence, Pump.fun has restarted SOL outflows. 

Lookonchain reported that the platform deposited 174,408 SOL ($14.76 million) to Kraken and has likely already sold 117,877 SOL ($9.96 million).

The analytics platform noted that a newly created wallet (35qaEz) withdrew the same amount of SOL from Kraken, sold it for 9.96 million USDC at an average price of $84.52, and later deposited the stablecoins back onto the exchange.

“Previously, from May 19, 2024, to Aug. 12, 2025, Pump.fun sold a total of 4.19M SOL ($757M) at an average price of $181,” the post read.

Whale activity arrives alongside an institutional retreat. Goldman Sachs’ latest 13F filing with the SEC shows the bank fully exited its spot Solana and XRP ETF positions in Q1 2026. 

The combination of large-scale whale distributions, renewed selling from ecosystem participants, and institutional outflows has added to bearish sentiment surrounding Solana as the broader crypto market struggles to regain momentum.

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