Solana slides 72% from peak as Goldman Sachs exits and Pump.fun sells

SOL traded at $84 on May 31, down 72% from its $295 all-time high, after Goldman Sachs exited its spot ETF position and Pump.fun deposited tokens to Kraken.

On-chain data from Lookonchain showed Pump.fun depositing 174,408 SOL worth $14.76 million to Kraken, adding direct sell pressure to a token already trading near $82. Goldman Sachs removed its entire spot Solana ETF holding in Q1 2026, according to its latest SEC 13F filing, reallocating toward Bitcoin and Hyperliquid exposure.

Monthly spot SOL ETF inflows dropped from $419 million in November 2025 to $34 million by April 2026, six straight months of weakening institutional demand, per SoSoValue data. Cumulative inflows still reached $1.1 billion by May, hitting an all-time high, but the pace has slowed sharply from the fourth quarter of 2025.

The $80 support level faces its biggest test since 2022. If SOL breaks below that threshold, analysts see a floor near $57 to $71, while a recovery above the 200-day moving average near $103 could signal a completed correction.

Institutional Exit vs. Network Growth

Despite the price decline, Solana's underlying network has held up. The blockchain processed between 1,000 and 1,500 transactions per second in Q1 2026, maintaining a success rate above 80 percent. Cumulative app revenue on Solana hit $4 billion, and the network entered 2026 with $873 million in tokenized real-world assets, gradually tying SOL's value to real institutional capital flows rather than speculative retail trading.

Thirteen public companies have staked around $1.72 billion worth of SOL, and staking yields remain above 7 percent, much higher than most traditional fixed-income assets. Validator costs have collapsed by roughly 98 percent to nearly $1,000 per year.

Standard Chartered's Geoffrey Kendrick lowered his 2026 year-end target from $310 to $250 in February, citing macro conditions rather than weakness in Solana itself. His longer-term roadmap places SOL at $400 by end-2027, $700 by 2028, and $1,200 by 2029, built on the thesis that low transaction fees will unlock micropayment markets too small to process on other blockchains.

VanEck's longer-range forecast puts Solana at $335 by 2030, with a bullish scenario reaching $3,211.

What to Watch Next

The 200-day moving average has been rising steadily since May 20 and is projected to approach $103 by June. If SOL can reclaim and hold above that level, investors will likely treat the recent decline as a completed correction rather than an ongoing downtrend.

On the downside, a break below $80 opens the path toward $57, the level where Solana's descending structure could resolve if selling pressure continues. The Bank of Japan's rate hike to 0.75 percent in December 2025 triggered a broader risk-off move that hit Solana harder than most major cryptocurrencies, and that macro pressure remains in place.

The divergence between Solana's strong network metrics and its depressed price creates a setup that has historically preceded recoveries in prior cycles. Whether this time follows that pattern depends on whether institutional inflows resume and whether the $80 support holds through the current selling wave.

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