Solana Price Faces Challenges in Maintaining Support at $150 - Is the Bull Market Over?

Solana's native token, SOL (SOL), recently experienced a notable price drop of 8% after briefly reaching $147 on March 25. Over the past three weeks, SOL has struggled to break above the $150 level, causing traders to speculate whether the previous bullish trend, initially fueled by memecoin excitement and advancements in artificial intelligence, has lost its momentum.

Some analysts suggest that the approval of a Solana spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States could provide a much-needed boost to the price of SOL. Alongside this, the growth of tokenized real-world assets (RWA) on the Solana network, which includes stablecoins and money market funds, is seen as a potential positive development.

Among those analyzing the situation is Nikita Bier, co-founder of TBH and Gas startups. He believes that Solana has the fundamental building blocks necessary for major advancements in mobile operations.

Bier pointed to the favorable regulatory environment under US President Donald Trump as a contributing factor, along with the lasting impact of the memecoin trend, which attracted “millions” of new users to Web3 wallets and decentralized applications (DApps). He asserts that Solana is ideally positioned due to its user-friendly onboarding process for mobile users.

Effects of Bitcoin Reserve Announcement on Cryptocurrencies

Despite the potential to create a “consumer-grade” marketplace for DApps, many traders have suffered losses as the initial enthusiasm from memecoins has dwindled and on-chain transaction volumes have sharply decreased. This situation raises concerns about SOL's ability to reclaim values above the critical $150 threshold. Furthermore, Solana is facing increased competition from other blockchains.

Another significant factor impacting investor sentiment was the announcement that the US government would not purchase altcoins for its strategic reserve and digital asset collection. On March 6, President Trump signed legislation permitting budget-neutral strategies for purchasing Bitcoin (BTC), while altcoins held by the government could be systematically sold. Importantly, the executive order on the digital asset stockpile made no specific mention of Solana or any other altcoin.

While some may argue that the Solana ecosystem extends well beyond just memecoin trading and token launchpads, as evident in the rising total value locked (TVL) across various sectors such as liquid staking, collateralized lending, synthetic assets, and yield platforms, the reality is that Solana’s fees and DApp revenues have continually declined. This decrease in on-chain activity weakens SOL's attractiveness to investors, consequently limiting its growth potential.

Solana 7-day DApp revenues and chain fees, USD. Source: DefiLlama.

For instance, Solana DApp revenues totaled $12 million in the week leading up to March 24, a decline from $23.7 million just two weeks prior. Similarly, chain fees dropped to $3.6 million during the same period, down from $6.6 million in the week ending March 10. Interestingly, this revenue drop occurred despite the total value locked (TVL) remaining relatively stable at 53.2 million SOL.

Solana Loses Dominance in DEX Volumes

The reduction in Solana’s on-chain activity is particularly alarming given that the BNB Chain has recently overtaken Solana in DEX volumes, despite having 34% less TVL, according to DefiLlama data.

Decentralized exchanges volume market share. Source: DefiLlama.

From October 2024 to February 2025, Solana held a dominant position within the DEX sector but has recently seen its standing weaken against Ethereum and BNB Chain. Consequently, part of SOL’s price decline is attributed to decreased on-chain activity compared to its rivals. For example, trading volume on Hyperliquid has risen by 35% over the last week, while activity on Pendle surged by a remarkable 186%.

While the current fundamentals do not point toward a swift rally above the $150 mark, the Solana network offers a unique blend of user experience and decentralization that has been successful. Notably, BNB Chain and Tron, while scalable, have not managed to launch a wallet or DApp that has reached the top 10 on the Apple App Store, unlike Solana’s Phantom Wallet, which achieved this distinction in November 2024.

This article is intended for informational purposes only and should not be viewed as legal or investment advice. The perspectives and opinions expressed herein belong solely to the author and do not reflect the views of any other entity.

Solana, SOL, cryptocurrency