Solana holds $68 as spot volume surges while perp trading dries up

Solana fell 5.2 percent to $68.41 on June 24, with spot trading accounting for nearly all on-chain volume while perpetual futures activity remained conspicuously absent.

"Sellers are still clearly in control, though buyers are trying to put up a fight locally," Sjuul, an analyst at AltCryptoGems, said on June 22. He identified the $78 level as the critical threshold bulls must reclaim.

The divergence in market structure is unusual for a token of Solana's size. Spot volumes reached $5.07 billion in the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko, while perp open interest data from Coinglass showed minimal activity — a pattern that typically precedes sharp directional moves when leveraged liquidity returns. A whale trader added to the bearish pressure by opening a 20x leveraged short position on 554,680 SOL, worth roughly $38.15 million, at the $69.23 price point, per blockchain intelligence platform Lookonchain.

The absence of perp positioning means there is no leveraged fuel for either a squeeze or a cascade, making the next move potentially violent once liquidity re-enters the derivatives market. If SOL fails to reclaim the $75-to-$78 resistance zone, analysts see downside risk toward $64 and $60, with a break below that opening the door to the $40-to-$30 range.

Whale Short Caps Recovery Attempts

The whale's position, entered near SOL's current trading level, remains near breakeven and continues to weigh on market psychology. As long as the price stays suppressed below the $69-to-$70 range, the short exerts a gravitational pull on any recovery attempts. SOL's intraday range spanned $68.41 to $72.80, with the token failing to sustain momentum above $70. Broader crypto markets showed mixed action, with Bitcoin trading at $62,546 and Ethereum at $1,663, both down modestly on the day.

Technicals Point to Momentum Shift

The MACD histogram registered at +0.79, suggesting selling momentum may be decelerating, though a sustained break above the middle Bollinger Band near $68.72 is needed to confirm a recovery. The upper Bollinger Band sits at $75.69, aligning closely with the resistance zone analysts have flagged. Since October 2025, SOL has been trapped in a weakening trend structure below the $80-to-$90 reclamation zone that would be needed for a healthier uptrend to emerge.

The spot-perp divergence leaves Solana in a precarious position. Without leveraged positioning on either side, the next significant move — whether a short squeeze above $78 or a breakdown below $60 — could trigger sharp price swings with the sudden return of perp liquidity. For now, the market remains in a waiting pattern, with spot buyers accumulating while derivatives traders sit on the sidelines.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.