Solana blockchain's native crypto falls to lowest in almost 2 years

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - Solana blockchain platform's native crypto token SOL on Thursday saw its price plummeting to the lowest level in almost two years.

Price of SOL dove below $10 mark for the first time since February 2021, while it was trading around $8.88 at 3.40 p.m. EDT for a daily loss of 10.4% after falling 12% on Wednesday.

After losing 56.6% of its value in November, the token fell 37.5% so far this month, and it is down a massive 95% from its highest level of $179.44 that was recorded in January.

While some crypto enthusiasts argue the view that former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who was a major promoter of the Solana blockchain, is behind the recent sell-off, a number of blockchain watchers support the idea that FTX-linked Alameda Research's wallets have become active again, dumping SOL to buy Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Bankman-Fried, who faces eight federal charges from US prosecutors amid FTX's implosion, was released on bail of $250 million last week and has his next court hearing on Jan. 3.

SOL, once a top-5 crypto that is now ranked 19th, is also dealing with internal issues.

DeGods and y00ts, two major non-fungible token projects of Solana, announced recently that they are leaving the blockchain to move into Ethereum and Polygon.

Raydium, on-chain order book automated market maker and a significant part of Solana’s decentralized finance, was also hacked earlier this month.