Whales Accumulate Solana (SOL) and Pepe (PEPE) – What’s Driving It?

Whales Accumulate Solana (SOL) and Pepe (PEPE) – What's Driving It?
q1

Whale Activity in Solana (SOL)

Recent on-chain data highlights that whales are back to accumulating Solana (SOL) in self-custodial wallets. Currently, SOL is priced at around $236.39, with no immediate signs of chasing a new all-time high. The demand for SOL is rising from multiple sources within the decentralized ecosystem, including liquid staking projects and the potential adoption of SOL after Grayscale’s filing to convert its Solana investment product into an ETF.

Solana’s Role in the Altcoin and Meme Token Ecosystem

SOL continues to be a prominent blue-chip token, offering various opportunities for traders. In particular, meme tokens remain strong within the Solana network, with platforms like Pump.fun and active secondary trading markets continuing to attract liquidity. This robust market activity positions Solana as a strong contender for broader adoption in the altcoin space.

Furthermore, the Solana ecosystem has demonstrated reliable transaction performance, with up to 63% of transfers being successful and a failure rate of only 36%. This improvement is notable, as failed transactions once reached as high as 70%, significantly limiting the potential for decentralized finance (DeFi) usage.

The ecosystem gained renewed attention recently after the listing of Moodeng (MOODENG), the first Pump.fun token to be listed on Coinbase. This move could further bolster Solana’s position within the meme token market. While Solana’s narrative remains unclear—whether it will follow the meme token trend or take the lead alongside ‘dinosaur altcoins’ breaking new records—its activity continues to catch the eye of investors.

Recent Whale Transactions in Solana

In the past 24 hours, four significant whale transactions were recorded, withdrawing 185,510 SOL from Binance. These funds, valued at $42.46 million, were transferred to large-scale whale wallets. Whale activity on Solana is often seen as a sign of smart money accumulating SOL, buying the dip, and riding the current trends in the market.

Breakdown of Whale Transactions

  • The first wallet is a frequent trader, known for moving coins to centralized exchanges for profit realization.
  • The second wallet holds a larger reserve of 31,333 SOL and serves as an intermediary for outflows, transferring 6,249 SOL to another intermediary wallet.
  • The third wallet belongs to active meme token traders, with a portfolio of 46,103.18 SOL and 119 meme tokens.
  • The fourth wallet is used to trade mSOL staking tokens via the Jupiter platform while holding a balance of 23,149.88 SOL.

These whale transactions suggest that SOL could be used for both simple staking, liquid staking, lending, and decentralized exchange (DEX) liquidity. After the 2024 market recovery, Solana drew in $9.2 billion in value, showcasing its growing appeal. Holding SOL in a self-custody wallet allows traders more flexibility, while Binance also offers its own BNSOL liquid staking token. However, these whales appear to prefer full control over their holdings.

Solana’s Distribution and Whale Rarity

Solana’s distribution across wallets is broad, with the top 100 addresses holding a significant portion of the supply. Around 40% of all coins and tokens are concentrated in these addresses, which include a burn address. Out of more than 536 million SOL, 1.26 million SOL are held as wrapped SOL (WSOL) on the Ethereum ecosystem, primarily for trading, DeFi applications, and other tasks.

Despite the concentration of wealth in the top addresses, whales are relatively rare in the Solana ecosystem. The majority of wallets hold less than 0.01 SOL, making large-scale transactions less common.

Whales Accumulate Pepe (PEPE) Meme Token

In addition to Solana, whale transactions have also been noted for Pepe (PEPE), an older meme coin that has gained renewed attention. After being listed on Coinbase, PEPE has held steady around the $0.000020 mark, suggesting it may be poised for a breakout. Despite being listed on centralized exchanges, on-chain activity for PEPE reflects increasing investor sentiment.

PEPE Whale Activity

  • One whale holder has accumulated enough PEPE to qualify as one of the top 150 addresses, though these tokens remain dormant for now.
  • The Bybit cold wallet, the third-largest PEPE holder, has also become active, moving coins between addresses.

PEPE is seen as a potential leader in the ongoing meme token super cycle, and its growing demand is benefiting Solana and Ethereum. As meme tokens gain more traction, they drive up demand for SOL and ETH as utility tokens and components of trading pairs. A breakout for PEPE could fuel further momentum in the meme token market, with potential liquidity rollover affecting the broader cryptocurrency ecosystem.

Conclusion

Solana (SOL) remains an asset to watch closely as whale activity intensifies and the altcoin market heats up. Its growing adoption across DeFi, liquid staking, and meme token ecosystems positions SOL for potential growth. With significant whale movements and improved ecosystem performance, Solana is shaping up to be a critical player in the evolving cryptocurrency landscape.