Solana (SOL) Price: Whale Pulls $52.7M from Exchange as Upexi Makes $100M SOL Bet

TLDR

Table of Contents

A Solana whale withdrew 374,161 SOL (worth $52.7 million) from Binance to an unknown wallet
GSR secured a $100 million private investment in Upexi, which will establish a Solana treasury strategy
Upexi plans to accumulate and stake SOL as part of their treasury plan
Institutional interest in Solana is growing with companies like Janover and Galaxy Digital buying SOL
Solana’s price is around $139, having risen about 7% in the past week

The Solana blockchain has seen major moves in the past 24 hours as whale activity and corporate interest show positive signs for the cryptocurrency. A large holder withdrew over $52 million worth of SOL from Binance, while trading firm GSR announced a $100 million investment in Upexi, which will implement a Solana-focused treasury strategy.

According to cryptocurrency tracking service Whale Alert, a transaction of 374,161 SOL (valued at approximately $52.7 million) was moved from Binance to an unknown wallet within the past day. The transaction required a minimal fee of just 0.00007 SOL to complete.

This type of movement, where coins flow from an exchange to a self-custodial address, is called an exchange outflow. Such transactions often indicate that investors plan to hold their assets for the long term rather than keep them on exchanges for trading purposes.

Cryptocurrency analysts generally consider large outflows as potentially bullish signals, as they reduce available supply on exchanges where selling pressure typically originates.

Corporate Treasury Strategies Turn to Solana

In a separate development, crypto trading firm GSR announced on Monday that it has secured a $100 million private investment in public equity (PIPE) in Upexi (UPXI). As part of this deal, Upexi has committed to establishing a Solana treasury strategy that includes accumulating and staking SOL.

Brian Rudick, Head of Research at GSR, explained their investment thesis: “Solana’s speed, scalability, and vibrant developer ecosystem make it an ideal foundation for long-term growth, and we are honored to help accelerate the integration of digital assets into institutional portfolios.”

This marks a departure from the Bitcoin-focused treasury strategies that most corporations have pursued since MicroStrategy began its Bitcoin acquisition program in 2020.

Upexi’s decision to center its crypto treasury strategy on Solana rather than Bitcoin represents a unique approach in the corporate world.

The investment “underscores GSR’s confidence in Solana as a leading high-performance blockchain and GSR’s mission to bridge the gap between traditional capital markets and the digital asset ecosystem,” according to GSR’s press release.

Institutional Interest Gaining Momentum

Institutional interest in Solana appears to be growing beyond Upexi. Asset manager ARK Invest recently announced plans to incorporate Canada’s 3iQ Solana Staking ETF into its crypto-focused funds.

Commercial real estate firm Janover has also embraced Solana as part of its crypto treasury initiative, purchasing 163,651 SOL worth approximately $10.5 million.

Data from Lookonchain suggests that Galaxy Digital may be shifting some assets from Ethereum to Solana. Over the past two weeks, Galaxy Digital reportedly deposited 65,600 ETH (worth about $105.48 million) to Binance while withdrawing 752,240 SOL (valued at $98.37 million) from the same exchange.

It seems that Galaxy Digital is selling $ETH and buying $SOL!
In the past 2 weeks, Galaxy Digital deposited 65,600 $ETH($105.48M) to #Binance and withdrew 752,240 $SOL($98.37M) from #Binance.https://t.co/lD8tgkC4Py pic.twitter.com/olcPWNnGq2
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) April 22, 2025

This contrasts with the movement of another cryptocurrency, XRP, which saw a whale deposit 29,532,534 XRP (approximately $62.6 million) to Coinbase. Unlike SOL’s outflows, large inflows to exchanges can sometimes signal selling pressure.

Solana’s price has been performing well in recent weeks. At the time of writing, SOL trades around $139, having risen about 7% over the past week.

The cryptocurrency recently broke above a descending trendline that had been in place since mid-January and rose 4.35% to close above its 50-day exponential moving average (EMA) of $136.14 on Saturday.

Technical indicators appear favorable for SOL’s price action. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) on the daily chart reads 58, above its neutral level of 50, indicating bullish momentum. The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) also exhibited a bullish crossover last week.

If the 50-day EMA continues to hold as support, analysts suggest SOL price could extend its rally to retest its March 25 high of $147.48. A successful close above this level could push the price toward the next resistance at $160.

However, if SOL fails to maintain support around the 50-day EMA level, it could correct toward its daily support level at $118.10.

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