Solana whales’ leverage battle threatens $120 support
Solana (SOL) is trading around $120 after failing to clear $150 multiple times in November, forming a bearish market structure that puts the $120 support level at risk. Whales are split: one large holder holds 20x leveraged long positions now showing an unrealized loss of $5.88 million (reducing total unrealized profits from $18M to $3M), while another whale has profited over $27.7 million from shorts and is taking profits. At the same time, Circle has minted roughly $55 billion USDC on Solana in 2025, including a recent $500 million mint, increasing on-chain liquidity. The piece argues that growing stablecoin liquidity may be fueling speculative activity rather than stabilizing SOL, as concentrated leveraged longs create vulnerability to short squeezes and liquidations. Key takeaways for traders: heightened volatility, strong whale-driven polarity (leveraged longs vs. shorting bears), and elevated risk that a bearish move will break the $120 support, potentially triggering rapid downside via liquidations.
Bearish
The article describes a clear bearish technical setup around SOL: repeated failures to break $150 and a critical $120 inflection level. Market structure is bearish and exacerbated by asymmetric whale activity — leveraged longs suffering large unrealized losses while shorts have realized substantial profits. This imbalance raises the probability of forced liquidations on long positions if price dips, which would accelerate downside. Large stablecoin minting (Circle’s USDC) increases available capital and speculative liquidity on Solana, but does not appear to be stabilizing price; instead it may amplify volatility. Historically, similar scenarios (concentrated leveraged long positions plus heavy shorting and rising stablecoin liquidity) have produced sharp, fast declines when a key support fails. Short-term implication: increased downside risk and high volatility with potential rapid drops if $120 breaks. Long-term: unless bullish on fundamentals or network usage, persistent bearish structure and whale dominance could keep SOL rangebound or pressured until leverage unwinds and liquidity distribution becomes broader.