Solana’s $160 Crash: Is This the Ultimate Buy Opportunity or the Beginning of the End?

So here we are, watching the market pull a fast one — a massive red candle slashing through nearly a month’s worth of steady gains. It’s like clockwork: leverage gets wiped out, long positions get squeezed, and Solana’s right in the thick of it. Down 15% from its $188 open, SOL isn’t just dipping—it’s diving towards the critical $160 mark, where the whole game could change. Now, here’s the kicker: with Binance offloading a cool 110,000 SOL right into a market packed with longs, are we witnessing a calculated reset or just the opening act of a much nastier downturn? The stakes are sky-high, and as holders get pushed into the red, the question lingers—will this purge clear the path for a new rally, or is it the start of deeper pain? Buckle up, because the market’s message is clear: $160 isn’t just a number—it’s survive or dive. LEARN MORE

Key Takeaways

SOL is being deliberately dumped into a crowded long market to trigger liquidations. Is this a calculated reset, or just the start of deeper pain?

The market is closing the week with a striking red candle, snapping nearly a month of steady gains. The move clearly signals aggressive deleveraging across the board.

Solana [SOL] hasn’t been spared. It’s on track to end the week down 15% from its $188 open, with price action now gravitating toward the key $160 level. For now, $160 is the name of the game.

And the stakes couldn’t be higher. SOL has dropped below a key realized price cluster, putting the average holder in the red. Could Binance’s sell-off now be the final trigger that deepens the bleed?

Leverage wiped as Binance funnels SOL to Wintermute

Binance is on a tear. It has offloaded nearly 110,000 SOL to Wintermute, and it doesn’t look like a routine shuffle. 

As flagged by AMBCrypto, when SOL was trading around $180, retail Open Interest was 91% net long, reflecting extreme retail leverage chasing a $200 breakout.

But the market flipped risk-off, triggering a cascade of long liquidations. In fact, on the 1st of August, Solana registered $46 million in long liquidations, marking its largest single-day wipeout since Q1.

Source: Glassnode

Despite this, perp funding remains skewed. Binance’s 5-minute SOL perpetual data still shows 78% long dominance, pointing to continued directional crowding.

In this context, Binance’s 110k SOL offload appears highly tactical.

With Solana already down 15% on the week, the sell pressure likely drove price into thin liquidity, flushed out excess leverage, and primed the market for a cleaner reset ahead of potential reaccumulation.

 SOL dump pressures Solana’s key on-chain levels

The sell-off has dragged Solana into a critical support zone. However, with perp positioning still long-heavy and macro flows risk-off, the $160 level remains technically exposed.

Plus, with $17.9 million in long liquidations already cleared, this could just be phase one of a broader flush. Unless Open Interest resets or strong spot bids step in, Binance may keep leaning into the sell-side.

Solana’s URPD chart highlights a notable cluster of realized price density between $140 and $150, meaning a large amount of SOL was last moved (and therefore likely accumulated) in this range.

Source: Glassnode

A revisit of the $140-$150 realized price cluster could therefore act as a high-probability reaccumulation zone, particularly for entities like Binance.

Add to that: Solana’s Open interest remains compressed, funding is still skewed long, realized losses climbing, and broader positioning remains misaligned. 

All of which suggests a retest of this zone looks increasingly likely unless risk sentiment flips decisively bullish.