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Solana (SOL) is trading around $89.25 after a market-wide sell-off pushed the token below the $90 level, despite the network recording its most significant month of technical and institutional development in October 2024.
The Solana Foundation described October as “a month of records across network speed, tokenized assets, payments, and institutional access” in a recap posted on X. The month included major protocol upgrades and the onboarding of major financial institutions, yet the token price has not yet reflected these fundamental improvements.
October Network Upgrades
On Oct. 9, the final stage of SIMD-0525 was deployed, cutting Solana’s target slot time from 400 milliseconds to 200 milliseconds. This change doubled the speed of block production on the network.
On Oct. 21, the Alpenglow consensus engine replaced TowerBFT on mainnet. The transition occurred on a live network without requiring a restart. Alpenglow targets a finality time of around 150 milliseconds, a significant reduction from the previous finality time of roughly 12.8 seconds.
The implementation of Alpenglow also altered how validators interact with the chain. Validator votes are no longer posted as on-chain transactions, which frees up block space. Previously, votes accounted for about 63% of all Solana transactions. Consequently, transaction-count dashboards will show a sharp drop in activity that does not reflect weaker usage, but rather a change in voting mechanics.
Alongside technical improvements, Solana saw record growth in tokenized assets and trading volume. Real-world assets tokenized on the network reached a new high of $5 billion. The chain processed approximately $60 billion in decentralized exchange (DEX) volume during October, and 14 million addresses now hold stablecoins on the network.
Institutional Adoption and Market Pressure
October also marked a significant expansion in institutional access to the Solana network. J.P. Morgan Asset Management brought tokenized money market funds to Solana through its Morgan Money platform. Securitize and Ondo expanded their stock and portfolio products on the chain.
Payments integrations were also added by Samsung Wallet, Fiserv, and Western Union. However, some of these payments integrations remain in pilot phases or are limited to specific regions.
Despite these developments, the price of SOL has been weighed down by broader macroeconomic pressures. Bitcoin fell back to its critical $76,000 level on Thursday, dragging altcoins lower with it. Institutional demand for Solana exposure has also declined. Spot Solana ETFs have recorded no net inflows for 12 straight trading sessions.
On Nov. 6, Solana ETF products saw outflows of about $25 million. This occurred alongside $412 million in outflows from Bitcoin ETFs and $93 million from Ethereum funds. This represents a sharp reversal from earlier in the year, when Solana ETF inflows topped $1.16 billion.
Technical indicators suggest a potential shift in momentum. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) has begun to climb even as the Solana price prints lower lows. Crypto trader Sweep noted that SOL falling while the RSI rises is a sign of seller exhaustion, a pattern that has preceded sharp rallies in the past.
Bulls are watching for SOL to reclaim its short-term moving averages to confirm this signal. The first resistance level to test is $90, which the token lost earlier this week. Above that, the $95 area is the next hurdle, followed by the psychological $100 mark. On the downside, the $86 zone is the nearest support. A breakdown below $86 would open the door toward the $80 level, where SOL previously found buyers.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was Solana’s target slot time after the October upgrade?
Solana’s target slot time was cut from 400 milliseconds to 200 milliseconds on Oct. 9, 2024.
How much did Solana ETFs lose on Nov. 6?
Solana ETF products saw outflows of about $25 million on Nov. 6, 2024.
