Solana – Here’s why SOL faced 10% weekly loss despite on-chain growth

Key Takeaways

Solana’s on-chain metrics are holding strong. But the price action isn’t following suit. With SOL/ETH down 50% and smart money leaning into ETH, is SOL failing to attract real buying pressure?

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Solana’s [SOL] on-chain fundamentals remain resilient. 

Its Total Value Locked (TVL) is up 2.67%, at press time, in the past 24 hours, user retention is stable, and protocol-level throughput continues to scale, evidenced by a 500% MoM increase in stablecoin growth.

Structurally, the ecosystem looks intact. Yet the price action is diverging. SOL is down nearly 10% on the week, underperforming its L1 peers, and leading the top five in weekly losses. 

The backdrop? Aggressive deleveraging. 

Over $4 billion in Open Interest has been flushed in the past two weeks. Interestingly, Ethereum’s [ETH] has absorbed an even deeper $10 billion OI flush, compounded by persistent ETF outflows.

And yet, Ethereum continues to outperform Solana on both absolute and relative terms. So with SOL/ETH still trending lower, is Solana at risk of continued downside against the rest of the majors?

Solana lags in risk-off flow

Few data points capture Solana’s institutional momentum better than DeFi Dev Corp. (NASDAQ: DFDV). 

In its July earnings release, the firm reported a sharp 91% MoM increase in SOL exposure, now holding 1.18 million SOL, with the position now valued at $204 million (+112% MoM), bringing its total supply to 124,315 SOL.

But despite the aggressive ramp, Solana closed the month up just 11.57%, while Ethereum rallied 48.76%. What’s more, the SOL/ETH ratio slid 25% in the same window, marking its worst monthly print since 2022.

These institutional flows are deepening the SOL/ETH divergence. ETH’s stronger ROI continues to attract smart money, backed by a sharp rise in wallets holding over 10k ETH.

Solana, meanwhile, is seeing a decline in this cohort, further weakening its relative strength. Consequently, the SOL/ETH ratio was retesting a key yearly support on the daily chart, at the time of writing.

However, with capital rotation leaning heavily toward ETH, a breakdown looks likely. Without a clear risk-on trigger, Solana lacks the momentum to reclaim the $200 psychological level.