Key Insights:

• FTX estate currently holds about $1.2 billion worth of Solana, with many holders fearing the asset liquidation process will impact SOL prices negatively. 
• This week, the FTX Estate accounts have been spotted staked over 5.5 million SOL tokens worth $122 million 
• The transaction was carried out by a wallet address linked with the FTX estate, delegating the coins to a Solana validator.

On October 14, the FTX estate staked over 5.5 million Solana (SOL), currently valued at $122 million, from one of its affiliated wallets on the Solana blockchain. Will it boost SOL holders’ confidence and trigger a Solana price uptrend in the coming week? 

FTX Trustee Estate Currently Holds Solana Worth $1 Billion 

According to a court documents filed on September 11, 2023, the FTX estate disclosed that it recovered crypto assets worth approximately $7 billion belonging to creditors and customers of the defunct crypto exchange.

These assets include over $1 billion staked Solana (SOL) tokens while  another $560 million in Bitcoin (BTC) were classified as liquid crypto assets currently held by the firm. 

The former CEO of the collapsed exchange, Sam Bankman-Fried and partner Caroline Ellison, are currently facing a lawsuit trial on fraud charges.

FTX Estate Stakes Solana, Allaying Sell-off Fears

Since the Sept 11 court filing, many Solana holders had expressed fears the asset liquidation process will impact SOL prices negatively, especially if the FTX estates sells the $1.2 billon holdings in quick succession.

But this week, on-chain data from SolanaFM, showed that one of the wallet addresses linked to the FTX estate has delegated the million of SOL coins into a staking protocol. 

The coins were deposited with Figment, a prominent network validator for Solana staking. The transaction was first reported on Twitter (X) by a crypto analyst called “Ashpool”.

This graph above shows  a significant spike in staked Solana on October 14. The staking transaction implies that the FTX estate is not looking to liquidate the $1.2 billion holdings rapidly as many had feared. This could boost Solana holders’ confidence and trigger a price upswing in the coming days. 

Solana Price Prediction: $26 is Within Reach 

Solana (SOL) is currently trading at $22. But the news of FTX estate staking $122 million worth of SOL has trigger a mild-price bound. 

The daily-time frame technical analysis using the Exponential and Simple Moving Averages (EMAs and SMAs) shows SOL has demonstrated recent bullish momentum in the short term. 

If investors buy into these bullish signals, SOL price will likely reclaim $26. But before that range, it will could face initial obstacle at the $24 market. 

But on the downside, the $21 range could be one to watch for the bears.Failure to hold that territory could trigger a larger downsizing toward $19.