**FTX’s Recent Moves: A Closer Look at the 3.03 Million SOL Transfer and Its Impact on the Market**
The now-defunct crypto exchange FTX has recently unstaked and transferred a staggering 3.03 million SOL, valued at $432.5 million, to various wallets. This significant move has led to a sharp 17% decline in SOL’s price within just 24 hours. Despite the ongoing selling pressure, Solana has demonstrated some resilience, managing to gain 1.16% over the past year. FTX, founded by Sam Bankman-Fried, filed for bankruptcy three years ago following a dramatic collapse linked to its close ties with the trading firm Alameda Research. As part of its efforts to repay customers, the exchange has been unstaking and moving millions of SOL tokens, coinciding with a notable drop in SOL’s price and raising concerns about a potential market crash.
According to data from the on-chain analytics firm Spot On Chain, FTX unstaked approximately 3.03 million SOL and distributed them across 37 different wallets. One of the largest recipient wallets, known as “CVjsf5,” received 892,800 SOL (worth $127.8 million) and has a history of transferring assets to Coinbase. This raises the possibility that a significant portion of these tokens may be heading toward centralized exchanges, which could lead to liquidation—a scenario that many Solana investors dread. Is this just a coincidence, or are there deeper implications at play? This massive transaction comes at a time when the broader crypto market is experiencing a sideways trend, and regardless of the circumstances, FTX’s actions seem to have exacerbated Solana’s price decline. Currently, SOL is trading at $137.22 after suffering a significant drop of 13.93%. Despite a slight recovery, Solana’s native token has faced a staggering collapse, marking the largest decline among the top seven cryptocurrencies by market cap, with a total drop of 17%.
The recent sell-off is part of a larger liquidation strategy by FTX, which had previously announced plans to unlock and distribute 11.2 million SOL in March. These tokens were auctioned off to companies following FTX’s collapse in November 2022, with the estate aiming to use the proceeds to compensate customers affected by its insolvency. As reported by ETHNews, FTX began repaying users with claims under $50,000 in mid-February, distributing over $1.2 billion so far. However, the ongoing unlocking and selling of Solana by the defunct exchange continues to exert downward pressure on the asset’s price.
Since the beginning of 2023, FTX has unstaked approximately 7.83 million SOL, valued at around $986 million, at an average price of $125.8 per coin. A significant portion of these funds has been directed toward major exchanges like Coinbase and Binance, indicating a continued trend that could impact the market further.
