Today, a substantial event concerning the Solana network has grabbed the attention of crypto market participants. A whale, whose wallet address identified to belong to FTX, unlocked massive SOL tokens that had been staked in the past.
FTX unlocks 186,326 SOL
Data from Lookonchain disclosed that the whale unstaked 186,326 SOL (worth $21.5 million) to cash on returns from a staking investment that started years ago. Last month, the whale also unlocked significant amounts of SOL tokens.
On March 4, 2025, the FTX wallet unlocked more than 3 million SOL tokens valued at $431 million. This unstaking is recognized to be FTX’s biggest SOL unlock since it began selling its assets in November 2023. Metrics from crypto analyst Spot On Chain indicate that since November 2023, FTX has unlocked 7.83 million SOL tokens valued at $986 million.
This investor’s unlocking activity suggests that whales are unstaking their SOL tokens for a profit-taking agenda. While such unlocks represent major milestones for savvy investors like whales, they might dilute SOL’s supply in exchanges and consequently cause price declines.
Today, Solana saw a price jump of 1.3%, placing its value currently at $116.49. Despite the hike, the asset has been experiencing a downtrend momentum. Its price has been down 1.4%, 12.65%, and 4.3% over the past week, two weeks ago, and one month ago, respectively.
The recent move by multiple investors to unstake large quantities of SOL prompted a selling trend to convert tokens to cash or reinvest in other digital assets. This trend recently caused significant selling pressure, pushing the price of Solana down.
Crypto profit with staking
In the cryptocurrency landscape, staking has become a popular way of making passive income. Users lock up their crypto assets to assist in validating transactions on a blockchain. As a result, they get rewards depending on how much they stake, comparable to a savings account, but with much higher (3-20% APY). Solana is among the prominent digital assets users stake, while others include Ethereum, Cardano, Aptos, Sui, and others.
The crypto world is often a dynamic and complex landscape, and so many beginner investors experience difficulty in finding their next profitable trade. Strategic investors often address this problem by tracking whales’ activity to spot potential market trends and monitor effective investment strategies.
