Solana sees $485M outflows in February as crypto capital flees to ‘safety’

Solana saw nearly half a billion dollars in outflows last month as investors shifted to what were perceived to be safer digital assets, reflecting growing uncertainty in the cryptocurrency market.

Solana (SOL) was hit by over $485 million worth of outflows over the past 30 days, with investor capital mainly flowing to Ethereum, Arbitrum and the BNB Chain.

The capital exodus came amid a wider flight to “safety” among crypto market participants, according to a Binance Research report shared with Cointelegraph.

“Overall, there is a broader flight towards safety in crypto markets, with Bitcoin dominance increasing 1% in the past month to 59.6%,” the report stated.

”Some of the capital flowed into BNB Chain memecoins, driven in part by CZ’s tweets about his dog, Brocolli,” it added.

Beyond Solana, total cryptocurrency market capitalization dropped by 20% in February, driven by growing negative sentiment, Binance Research noted.

Alongside macroeconomic concerns, the crypto investor sentiment drop was mainly due to the $1.4 billion Bybit hack on Feb. 21, the largest exploit in crypto history. 

Disappointment in Solana-based memecoin launches has also curbed investor appetite, particularly after the launch of the Libra token, which was endorsed by Argentine President Javier Milei.

The project’s insiders allegedly siphoned over $107 million worth of liquidity in a rug pull, triggering a 94% price collapse within hours and wiping out $4 billion in investor capital.

“Memecoins have evolved from community-driven social experiments into a chaotic landscape dominated by value extraction from retail investors,” Anastasija Plotnikova, co-founder and CEO of blockchain regulatory firm Fideum, told Cointelegraph, adding:

“Insider rings, pump-and-dump schemes, and sniper groups have replaced the organic, collectible nature of original memecoins, creating an unhealthy playing field.”

Related: Bybit hackers may be behind Solana memecoin scams — ZachXBT

Stablecoins, RWAs hit record highs amid market uncertainty

Stablecoins and real-world assets (RWAs) rose to all-time highs as investor capital continued to flow into more predictable assets with stable price or yield-generation mechanics.

Stablecoins surpassed the record $224 billion high while onchain RWAs surpassed a cumulative all-time high of $17.1 billion across 82,000 asset holders, Cointelegraph reported on Feb. 3.

Related: Solana sees 40% decline in user activity as memecoin rug pulls erode trust

Binance Research attributed this capital rotation to the recent market turbulence:

“Influenced by macroeconomic factors such as escalating trade tensions and diminished expectations of interest rate cuts, the crypto market has had a rough February. In such an environment, investors may choose to take chips off the table and hold stablecoins as an alternative.”

More uncertainty in global risk assets such as Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrencies may drive RWAs to a $50 billion high during 2025, Alexander Loktev, chief revenue officer at P2P.org, an institutional staking and crypto infrastructure provider, told Cointelegraph.

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