Goldman Sachs Trims XRP and Solana Holdings as Institutional Crypto Priorities Shift

Goldman Sachs cut its positions in XRP and Solana. The move, revealed in recent portfolio disclosures, points to a broader pivot among institutional players away from high-beta altcoins and toward what many see as safer ground — Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Solana dropped nearly 11% over a single week, landing around $85. That kind of slide tends to spook institutional desks, and Goldman’s repositioning fits the pattern. XRP hasn’t fared much better. It’s been grinding within a narrow band, roughly $1.38 to $1.42, with bulls scrambling to hold a $1.35 support floor. Resistance at $1.50 has been a ceiling that neither bulls nor momentum traders have managed to crack. No breakout. No catalyst. Just a tight, frustrating range that keeps repeating.

Solana Foundation President Lily Liu pushed back on some of the negativity. “Memecoins don’t define Solana,” she said — a direct response to criticism that the network’s recent activity has leaned too heavily on speculative memecoin cycles. Fair point, maybe. But the price chart isn’t really listening right now.

Solana’s Vulnerability on Full Display

The memecoin association has been a double-edged sword for Solana. When speculative appetite is hot, Solana benefits. When it cools, the network takes the hit disproportionately. That’s basically what’s happening. Solana’s price hovering around $85 after the recent downturn doesn’t scream confidence, and a drop below $80 could open the door to further selling. Not a guarantee. But traders are watching that level closely.

To be fair, Solana’s roadmap isn’t empty. Alpenglow, a technical development in the works, and ongoing changes to MEV design are the kinds of infrastructure upgrades that serious builders care about. The problem is those things don’t move prices on a short timeline. They’re long-game plays. And right now, the market’s asking short-term questions.

XRP’s situation is kind of similar, though the dynamics differ. The asset spent years tangled in regulatory uncertainty, and when that cloud lifted, there was genuine optimism that XRP would find independent momentum. It hasn’t, not really. Its price moves stay tightly correlated with the broader altcoin market rather than reflecting any unique catalyst. That’s a problem if you’re betting on XRP to outperform. Any meaningful upside seems tied to a broader shift in macroeconomic risk sentiment — something no single asset can manufacture on its own.

Bitcoin Hyper Raises $32.7 Million Targeting the Gap

Capital doesn’t disappear in these rotations. It moves. And some of it is clearly hunting for early-stage opportunities that sit at the intersection of Bitcoin’s security model and the speed that Solana-type infrastructure can offer.

Read also: Goldman Sachs Dumps XRP and Solana ETFs While Bitcoin Holdings Climb to $700 Million

Bitcoin Hyper is one project trying to catch that capital. It’s a Layer 2 solution built around integrating the Solana Virtual Machine — SVM — with Bitcoin’s network. The pitch is pretty direct: take Bitcoin’s foundational security, bolt on faster execution, and fill the gap that neither Bitcoin nor Solana fully covers on their own. Whether that works long-term is unclear. But the presale numbers are hard to dismiss — Bitcoin Hyper has raised over $32.7 million so far. That’s not nothing. That’s a real signal of investor interest, even if the project is still early.

It’s worth noting what that fundraising figure actually means in context. Presale totals can be noisy, and enthusiasm in a presale doesn’t automatically translate to sustained market performance. But $32.7 million does suggest that traders who are stepping back from XRP and Solana aren’t just sitting in cash. They’re looking for the next thing.

Institutional Repositioning and What It Signals

Goldman’s move probably isn’t isolated. Institutional investors tend to move in clusters, and when a name like Goldman starts trimming altcoin exposure, others pay attention. The shift toward Bitcoin and Ethereum as the “safer” crypto allocation isn’t new, but it’s getting louder. Bitcoin and Ethereum carry institutional legitimacy in a way that most altcoins still can’t match — deeper liquidity, longer track records, clearer regulatory treatment in most jurisdictions.

And so the altcoin market sits in an awkward spot. Solana’s developers are building. XRP’s legal battles are largely behind it. Both networks have real user activity and real development communities. But the institutional money that briefly flowed in is now pulling back, at least partially, and that matters for price support.

See also: Intesa Sanpaolo Doubles Crypto to $235M, Dumps $SOL for $ETH and $XRP

Traders watching Solana will keep an eye on $80 as the line in the sand. A hold there keeps the longer-term thesis intact. A break below it probably accelerates the selling. XRP’s $1.35 support is the equivalent floor — lose that, and the consolidation phase gets messier.

Bitcoin Hyper’s presale sits at $32.7 million raised.

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