Solana in early 2026 attracts capital flow: whales and institutions join the race

The first hours of 2026 show that Solana is emerging as a rare bright spot in the crypto market. Santiment's on-chain data records strong buying activity from “whales,” with many large wallets continuously accumulating tokens within the Solana ecosystem, reflecting expectations of price recovery and growth across the entire ecosystem.

This trend is reinforced by institutional inflows. According to CoinShares, Solana-related investment products attracted an additional $7.5 million just in the past week. Since the Solana ETF was listed in the US in mid-October, the total capital inflow has exceeded $1.3 billion, despite the broader digital asset market facing withdrawal pressures.