off-exchange moves defy bearish charts

Solana whales shuffle over $323 million in SOL between unknown wallets — a stealth bull case beneath surface retail panic as spot price tumbles on Israel’s airstrikes against Iran.

Solana’s (SOL) price witnessed a sharp decline on Friday, June 13, as news of Israeli airstrikes on Iranian military assets spooked markets across the board. The token plunged over 10%, falling from a daily high of $160 to as low as $140, before paring some losses to trade at $147 as of press time.

According to Glassnode data, the market bloodbath triggered over $18 million in SOL liquidations. Yet, whale addresses responded by moving large volumes of tokens between private wallets. The $323 million shuffle, equivalent to 15% of the asset’s average daily trading volume, occurred entirely off-exchange, fueling speculation about either covert accumulation or internal portfolio rebalancing among crypto’s institutional class.

Given Solana’s rising institutional footprint and expanding decentralized finance ecosystem, the timing is notable.

Institutional players vs. retail panic: the SOL divide deepens

As retail traders rushed to exit positions amid the Solana price drop, evidenced by a 14-day high in exchange inflows, institutional players appeared to play a different game. On June 13, SOL recorded a net negative exchange flow of roughly $35 million, with $359.5 million entering exchanges and $394.7 million flowing out.

That means more SOL is moving into cold storage or private custody than is being prepared for sale, a historically bullish signal during periods of price weakness.

At the same time, Solana’s derivatives markets painted two starkly different pictures over the last 24 hours. Futures traders retreated tactically, with open interest plunging 13% to $6.38 billion, even as trading volume jumped 21%, a telltale sign of rapidly unwinding positions.

Meanwhile, the options market erupted with activity. Total volume exploded 93% alongside a 17% surge in open interest. This divergence paints a clear picture: while futures players are taking chips off the table, options traders are stacking short-term hedges.

The institutional play narrative deepens when considering recent developments among corporate SOL holders. DeFi Development Corp, which already holds over $100 million in SOL, recently secured a $5 billion credit facility to acquire more, alongside plans to launch Solana staking products and purchase a validator node.

Based on these observations, Solana’s near-term outlook remains mixed. A spike in exchange balances to a two-week high and a slightly bearish long/short ratio (49.3%/50.7%) reflect the market’s indecision. Still, the divergence between price action and on-chain fundamentals may offer more signal than noise. For now, SOL’s price may be shaking, but its base looks far from broken.