SOL may face selling pressure as FTX receives another $40M tokens from Coinbase Prime

FTX may be using its SOL unlocks to compensate creditors. After the latest unlock, wallets related to FTX received close to $40M in SOL. 

FTX may continue to put pressure on SOL as it receives regular unlocks. One of the latest transactions shows the wallets linked to the defunct exchange received nearly $40M worth of SOL. Sunil Kavuri, who communicates the creditor compensation process, suggested FTX may continue liquidating crypto to continue its disbursements. 

FTX used Coinbase Prime to store the SOL with additional staking rewards. The exchange’s SOL portfolio has been valued as high as $10B, though the exchange operator had to liquidate most of the portfolio at a 70% discount. 

FTX received another tranche of unlocked SOL, which will most probably be sold in an OTC deal to cover still outstanding payments to creditors. | Source: Arkham Intelligence

During previous unlocks, FTX regularly sold the tokens at various SOL levels. The latest sale happened on June 13 for over $31M . Some of the biggest repayments for FTX are already in the past, with over $5B distributed in cash for May’s repayments.

Some of the SOL sales were performed on the OTC market, avoiding a direct effect on exchanges. However, previous SOL sales have coincided with significant price dips. 

For now, SOL has absorbed most of the big unlocks, especially the unlocking of 11.16M SOL in March. In the coming months, only much smaller unlocks are expected. Despite this, FTX still sits on some of its remaining reserves. The exchange ended up liquidating most unlocks in the whole of 2024 in preparation for compensating its creditors . 

Are the FTX unlocks bullish for SOL? 

The SOL ecosystem has shown it can absorb selling from many whales, older holders, as well as apps realizing profits. 

The question remains whether the unlocks are bullish for SOL. In the case of FTX, SOL is key for compensating users in kind, meaning the liquidator has an interest in a higher SOL market price. 

Galaxy Digital has been tasked with selling SOL to compensate creditors, and researchers have discovered previous evidence of price pumps, especially during the most active selling in 2024. SOL has evolved since its crash as low as $9, with a full meme ecosystem and growing DeFi. However, the unlocks may still lead to bullish price pressure, aiming to achieve the best possible market price for SOL. 

Only the latest SOL sales for FTX were at a higher price range. Based on the bankruptcy agreement, FTX has sold at prices as low as $21, $69, and $73, leaving creditors with much lower compensation. Some of the early FTX traders and SOL buyers were bullish on the ecosystem and may return to Solana for its new features.

After the recent unlocks, SOL traded at $157.41, still not able to flip BNB. SOL has remained range-bound despite the application for up to eight ETFs, as well as news of building corporate treasuries. 

SOL remains a key in-demand asset for staking, liquid staking, general trading, and meme token activity. SOL open interest is near its higher range for the past six months at around $3.5B.

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