Solana loses $52B in 2022 as firesale continues

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - Solana blockchain platform's native crypto token SOL saw its market value evaporating more than $50 billion this year as the massive firesale continued on Friday.

After the price of SOL dove below $10 on Thursday, for the first time since February 2021, it saw as low as $8.14 early Friday.

It later recovered to $9.89 at 2.52 p.m. EDT with a rebound for a daily gain of almost 12.5%.

The token's market value dove to as low as $3.4 billion on Friday, from its highest level of $55.3 billion in early January, according to data from digital asset price-tracking website CoinMarketCap.

The annual price decline marks almost a $52 billion loss in market capitalization for the token this year.

SOL, once a top-5 crypto, is now ranked 17th as of Friday. It has been mired with internal issues.

Two major non-fungible token projects of Solana, DeGods and y00ts, 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 in early December.

Some crypto enthusiasts argue 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, on the other hand, support the idea that FTX-linked Alameda Research's wallets have become active again, dumping SOL to buy Bitcoin and Ethereum instead.

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.

Securities regulator in the Bahamas announced Thursday it seized $3.5 billion worth of cryptocurrency assets of the collapsed FTX on Nov. 12, day after the crypto exchange platform filed for bankruptcy in the US.