Solana’s price has come under pressure over the past two months amid growing concerns about its ecosystem.

Solana (SOL) has dropped from its year-to-date high of $295.52 to a low of $112 this week, wiping out $71 billion in market value as its market cap plunged from $139 billion to $68 billion.

Solana’s crash was because of the ongoing crypto crash that has brought the total market cap of the whole industry to $2.8 trillion.

The price drop has also been fueled by rising concerns about Solana’s ecosystem, which has become increasingly linked to meme coins. The market cap of all Solana meme coins tracked by CoinGecko has fallen from over $25 billion earlier this year to $7.7 billion. A key concern is that many of these meme coins have turned out to be rug-pull scams.

Another factor weighing on Solana’s price is a large token unlock that took place earlier this month, tied to recent FTX distributions. A token unlock introduces more tokens into circulation, leading to potential dilution and downward pressure on price.

Solana has also lost its market share in the DEX industry to Ethereum (ETH). According to DeFi Llama, the total volume handled by DEX protocols in the network in the last 30 days stood at $76.95 billion, lower than Ethereum’s $84 billion.

Solana price technical analysis

On the positive side, signs suggest that Solana could stage a strong comeback once the current crypto crash eases.

The weekly chart shows that the accumulation and distribution indicator has continued rising over the past few months, signaling that investors have been accumulating SOL during the downturn.

Most importantly, Solana has been forming a cup-and-handle pattern, a bullish formation characterized by a rounded bottom, a horizontal resistance line, and a pullback.

In Solana’s case, the horizontal line connects the highest levels from 2021 and 2024. The ongoing retreat represents the formation of the handle section. If Solana holds above $100, there’s a strong likelihood that it could stage a rally.

The cup has a depth of about 95%. Measuring that same distance from the top of the cup suggests an eventual surge to $505, implying a 270% increase from current levels.

The key caveat is that cup-and-handle patterns take time to complete, meaning that the 270% surge could take months or even years. For example, it took three years for the cup section to form.

Story Protocol has officially launched its public mainnet following a six month long testnet.

Story Protocol, a layer-1 blockchain, has announced the launched its public mainnet, marking the first-ever global, programmable market for IP. The platform aims to transform the $61 trillion IP asset class by giving IP holders and AI-driven products the tools to manage, trade, and monetize creative assets.

Story Protocol’s launch follows a six-month testnet phase that began with the “Iliad” testnet on August 27, 2024. Now live, its mainnet provides a decentralized platform where IP owners can set up licensing rules and transact without any middlemen.

The network will be secured by the IP token. IP is used for transactions, governance, and creator rewards. IP owners can register and tokenize their work on the blockchain, setting rules for how it can be used, modified, or monetized. Developers can build apps on the network, creating new AI tools, licensing platforms, and IP marketplaces.

IP has debuted with an initial supply of 1 billion tokens. A 30-day rewards portal has been set up to allow testnet participants to claim IP tokens. Staking IP is an option for those who wish to promote network security. The staking phase for the IP, called “Singularity,” kicked off on Feb.1, but rewards will be distributed starting March 2. 

Notably, tokens allocated to early backers and core contributors will be locked for one year. Major exchanges like Coinbase, OKX, KuCoin, Bybit, Bitget, and Bithumb have already announced the listing of IP.

Story Protocol raised $140 million from investors such as Samsung Next and a16z. Several IP-focused projects are already building on the network. Aria, one such project, raised $7 million to purchase the rights to Justin Bieber’s song “Peaches” and divide the proceeds among the IP asset’s fractional owners.

Sui resumed its strong uptrend, soaring by almost 20%. At last check Saturday, its price hovered at around $5.13.

Sui (SUI), a popular layer-2 network, has been one of the best-performing cryptocurrencies, soaring by over 1,312% from its lowest level in 2023.

This performance has brought its market cap to over $15 billion, making it the 13th biggest cryptocurrency in the industry. 

Sui’s surge coincided with the continued ecosystem growth as the total value locked in its Decentralized Finance ecosystem soared to a record high of $1.96 billion.

The biggest players in its DeFi ecosystem are Suilend Protocol, NAVI Protocol, Cetus, Scallop Lend, and Aftermath Finance. 

Sui partnerships

Sui also grew after securing major partnerships with top companies like VanEck, Grayscale, and Franklin Templeton. For example, Grayscale launched the Sui Trust, which has accumulated over $14 million in assets. If the Securities and Exchange Commission changes its view on crypto ETFs under Paul Atkins, that could signal that the firm will apply for a spot Sui ETF in 2025. 

Sui has also had more successes that have propelled it to a record high. It has incorporated four stablecoins like USD Coin, AUSD, FDUSD, and USDY, which have a combined market cap of over $406 million. 

It also launched Deepbook V3, its native onchain order book, whose trading volume jumped to over $1 billion. Its DEEP token has gained a market value of over $375 million.

Meanwhile, Sui’s DEX ecosystem is booming, handling over $46 billion in volume since its inception. 

More data shows that Sui’s futures open interest soared to a record high of $963 million. This is a notable increase from this week’s low of $650 million and a sign that SUI’s token is gaining traction among investors.

Sui price forecast

The daily chart shows that the SUI token has been bullish this year, rising for four straight days and flipping the resistance at $5 into resistance. By doing that, the coin invalidated the risky double-top pattern whose neckline was at $4. A double-top is a popular reversal sign in the market. 

The price of Sui has been supported by the 50-day moving average, which it has failed to move below since September last year. It is also a cheap coin, as the Z-score of the Market Value to Realized Value has fallen to 2.7. A cryptocurrency is said to be highly expensive when it has a Z score of 3.8.

Therefore, technicals suggest that the SUI price will rise to the extreme overshoot of the Murrey Math Lines at $5.50. A move above that level will raise the odds of it moving to the next crucial level at $10.