The Solana ecosystem is facing unprecedented challenges, as $1 billion of pledged funds fled within just one week, alongside daily active users plummeting by nearly 60%. Data reported by PANews emphasizes this drastic shift, signaling the most severe test for Solana over the past six months. Major sell-offs initiated by prominent SOL token holders, exacerbated by the fading popularity of MEME tokens and the introduction of regulatory adjustments to staking rewards, have caused significant concern for investors and users alike.
Recent statistics reveal alarming trends: the amount of Solana tokens pledged has decreased by approximately 5.97 million, marking nearly $1 billion lost. According to PANews, this translates to a weekly decline rate of about 1.5%. On February 23, the Solana network witnessed unprecedented fluctuations, where active users and new wallet registrations dropped by around 90% on the same day, before normalizing later on. This event illustrated potential vulnerabilities within the Solana network, particularly the elevated presence of automated trading bots influencing overall activity.
Further analysis of user activity indicates staggering declines; on October 22, 2024, the number of daily active addresses peaked at 8.78 million, but as of February 27, 2025, this figure fell to just 3.71 million—representing around a 58% decrease. The shift highlights the urgent need for Solana to regain user confidence and operational stability.
Sale activity among large holders has intensified the situation. Recently, five notable SOL token holders, or "whales," rapidly sold approximately 2.09 million SOL, valued at $317 million, at average prices around $151. This untimely exit has sparked widespread anxiety among remaining investors and the market. PANews identified one whale—using the address AMekyY73RJBd4urgZ2HvWV8yFzvk4nRsGmahuJcWiQri—who unstaked 236,000 SOL but has sold only 60,000 tokens so far. Observers are left wondering if the remainder will also be liquidated soon.
One significant player contributing to the market sell-off is Pump.fun, reported to have divested roughly 3.02 million SOL tokens, translating to about $610 million. The recent data posted by Pump.fun indicates the platform has seen severe reductions—on February 23, active users dipped to 41,000, only recovering slightly to around 180,000 the following day. Their overall metrics have dropped by more than half over the past month, evidencing broader market discontent.
Another avenue of outflow for large investors has been through the cryptocurrency brokerage FalconX. Reports from PANews indicate 386,700 SOL tokens transferred from FalconX to Binance just this February, valued at around $6.6 million. Historical data shows significant activity began as early as January, with 1.37 million SOL tokens valued at $315 million moved from FalconX to Binance, highlighting growing apprehension among substantial investors.
Despite these exits, not all is lost for the Solana ecosystem. On February 27 and 28, for example, one large investor, operating under the address EhuKBFXyUYgwc4nUMJMQHjY4A7w5nTTrMtY6z4TtZSFK, entered the market by purchasing 83,000 SOL tokens for $10.88 million at about $134 apiece. This activity, albeit minor relative to overall trends, signifies some continuing interest even amid heavy sell-offs.
A major point of concern underlining these market movements has been the recently proposed SIMD-0228 strategic alterations to staking rewards. The proposal aims to modify the issuance curve of SOL tokens and reduce the inflation rate by lowering staking rewards, which has spurred discomfort among validator nodes worried about their long-term returns. According to PANews, many stakeholders are left to navigate this uncertainty, with large sellers currently overpowering small new entrants to the market.
The confluence of internal disruptions and external market pressures has positioned Solana's ecological data and token prices under serious strain. Just as of February 28, the price of SOL showed a massive decline of 57% over the previous 40 days, making it the mainstream token experiencing the most significant downturn recently. With the MEME sector cooling and lacking new momentum, how Solana intends to stabilize its on-chain activity remains the most pressing challenge it currently faces.