Solana pointed at US$80, Ark Investment bought a pledged ETF, and the giant whale returned

Today's SOL price: Steady above US$77, trading volume surged 27%

Solana (SOL) was up 1.24% on August 18, trading above US$77 as of writing. Trading volume has also climbed sharply in the past 24 hours, surging 27% to $1.359 billion. The rally comes as Casey Wood's ARK Invest continues to increase its SOL ETF position, despite cooling demand for spot SOL funds.

Adding fuel to the rally, a dormant whale account that had been dormant for two years had just re-purchased Solana-a sign that interest at the institutional and large-scale levels is gathering in multiple directions.

Why did Casey Wood buy shares of the Solana ETF?

According to ARK's public trading tracker, ARK Invest bought 7115 shares of the 3iQ Solana Pledged ETF on August 17. The purchase was spread across two funds: ARKW bought 3830 shares, while ARKF added 3285 shares. Despite the overall poor performance of the SOL ETF, the purchase still occurred.

Are Solana ETF inflows slowing?

Data from SoSoValue shows that there have been no new capital inflows from SOL ETF since August 12. This lackluster period is consistent with the overall slowdown in the crypto ETF market this month. However, the situation is not entirely pessimistic. According to SoValue, the SOL ETF recorded a net inflow of $10.26 million during the week of August 10 - 14, the best weekly total to date. So while daily capital flows have calmed down, previous weekly trends have actually been positive.

The dormant Solana whale reappears, buying US$3.6 million in SOL

A Solana whale that made a profit of more than $20 million in 2023 reappeared after two years of silence and bought $3.6 million worth of SOL. The move was marked by blockchain tracker Lookonchain, which occurred as the altcoin was trading at about 74% lower than its all-time high in January 2025.

The wallet, labeled GvHYQQ, purchased 47,535 tokens in this transaction, increasing its position it opened for the first time during the decline in 2023. At the time, the whale accumulated 291,790 tokens at $6.82 million during the decline in August and October, with an average cost of $23.37 each, before SOL began to rise to the end of 2023. After that, it sold 191,789 tokens at an average price of US$128.36, earning US$24.62 million, locking in more than US$20 million in realized profits, and the address fell silent for more than two years.

According to Arkham, the wallet still holds approximately 100,000 tokens in its original 2023 position, and this new purchase increases its position to approximately 147,535 SOL, worth nearly US$11.1 million at current prices. As Lookonchain said, the whale bought on dips again after two years of watching.

Solana on the XRP ledger: What happened?

Wrapped Solana is now clearing on the native decentralized exchange of the XRP ledger through Axelar Bridge. This means that SOL and XRP trade directly on a DEX that has been running within the XRPL protocol for 14 years and does not involve a smart contract layer. Axelar connects XRPL to more than 80 other chains, so assets from these networks can be settled in the same way. Traders are watching this closely because XRPL offers 3 to 5 seconds of settlement time and extremely low fees, which may attract more cross-chain liquidity inflows over time.

Solana Price Forecast: What does the chart show?

The altcoin is holding on to the uptrend line and forming a series of higher lows below resistance levels around $78 -80. Prices are slightly above the 20-and 50-day index moving averages, which is usually a short-term bullish signal. The RSI is close to 57, indicating that the momentum is biased towards the positive, but there is still room for SOL to enter overbought territory.

Bullish scenario: Closing above $78 -80 could open the door for a rise to $82 -84. If buying pressure continues to increase and breaks through this level, the next target is around $88 -90.

Bear scenario: A break below the uptrend line and the $75 support level will weaken the current bullish structure. Such a decline could push SOL back to $70 -72, and if selling intensifies, near June lows of $64 -66 would be a deeper downside target.

Is Solana a good time to buy now?

The chart pattern is slightly bullish, but nothing is confirmed until the SOL close clearly breaks above $80. Prior to this, SOL was trapped in a narrow range and traders might need to wait for a clear breakthrough in either direction before taking action. ARK Invest's purchase adds a layer of institutional interest, but it is a small position relative to the total size of the fund, so its direct impact on price may be limited.