Solana teeters at $61 support after $200M in leveraged longs unwind

Solana traded near $61.50 as of 04:00 UTC, a critical support zone where a breakdown could trigger cascading liquidations among leveraged long positions.

"Solana is getting hit with a rough sentiment combo: trading volume has fallen to its lowest level of 2026," Santiment said in a July 9 post on X, adding that negative sentiment around the token hit a yearly peak.

Solana saw roughly $201.97 million in positions liquidated over 24 hours, the largest tally among non-BTC, non-ETH assets, according to Coinglass data. Long positions accounted for 75.77% of SOL-specific liquidations. The broader market flushed $326.58 million in leveraged positions, with Bitcoin at $62,000 and Ethereum at $1,734.

The $61-62 zone represents a major downside region for leveraged traders. Holding this level could set up a relief rally toward the $73-$76 resistance zone identified by analyst Michaël van de Poppe. A failure risks a decline toward $53, with additional support at $45 and $36.

$200M Leverage Reset Reshapes SOL Risk Profile

The liquidation cascade removed a significant portion of excess leverage from Solana's derivatives market. Open interest across SOL futures contracts contracted as forced selling drained margin from overextended long positions. The reset reduces the risk of another liquidation cascade in the near term, but it leaves the token dependent on spot buyers to establish a durable floor.

Santiment noted that the convergence of pessimistic sentiment with diminished trading volumes can occasionally weaken selling pressure, potentially allowing institutional buyers to accumulate with minimal resistance.

On-Chain Strength Contrasts Bearish Price Action

Solana's network fundamentals remained strong despite the price weakness. The blockchain processed roughly 100 million transactions daily in the second quarter, with average daily active addresses reaching 1.93 million. Decentralized exchange volumes averaged $2.09 billion per day, while applications on Solana generated $262 million in quarterly revenue — the ninth consecutive quarter where Solana led all blockchains in Web3 application revenue.

Real-world assets deployed on Solana expanded from $2 billion in March to surpass $3.48 billion by July. Stablecoin transaction volume climbed to $1.79 trillion in June, a 63% increase from the prior month.

The divergence between on-chain activity and price action leaves Solana at a crossroads. The $61-62 level will determine whether the network's fundamental strength eventually translates into price recovery or whether leveraged positioning drags the token lower.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.