Mixed Signals for Solana: Institutional Inflows vs Bearish Market Structure

Solana (SOL) is trading around $80 on Friday, following two consecutive days of decline. The drop is mainly driven by the overall market weakness and the recent hack of the Drift protocol.

There are early signs that institutional investors might be coming back. After a $6.17 million outflow earlier this week, Solana saw about $932,850 in inflows on Thursday via US spot ETFs. While not a large amount, it’s the first positive inflow since March 24, indicating some gradual return of institutional interest.

On the derivatives side, the market still looks bearish. In the past 24 hours, liquidations totaled $11.87 million, with $9.45 million coming from long positions being forced out as prices fell. The long-to-short ratio sits just below 1 at 0.9643, showing slightly more short positions than longs.

The funding rate is nearly flat at 0.0004%, reflecting uncertainty among traders. Meanwhile, Open Interest increased about 1% to $5.18 billion, meaning more positions are opening but without a clear market direction.

From a technical standpoint, the SOLUSDT 1-hour chart shows a clear downtrend with lower highs and lows. The price continues to respect a descending resistance line. The recent bounce off the lower channel seems weak, more like a brief relief than a reversal.

Currently, the price hovers around 79–80, inside a small demand zone between 78 and 80. This area might cause a short-term reaction, but it doesn’t offer strong support.

On the upside, the first key resistance is at 84–86, where the price was recently rejected. Beyond that, the 90–92 range is a major level that needs to be reclaimed to confirm any real trend change.

On the downside, support is located exactly at 78–77. If that breaks, the next levels to watch are 75 and then 73.

Momentum is starting to turn slightly upward, but there’s no firm bullish signal yet. This suggests the current move could just be a bounce.

Overall, the more likely scenario remains bearish. The price might rise to 82–85 and face rejection before dropping below 78 toward 75 and 73.

If the 78 level holds, a short-term bounce back to 84–86 is possible, though sellers are expected to show up there again. A true reversal would require a strong break above 86–88, followed by a move over 90.

Before that happens, the trend looks down, and rallies are more likely to be sold off.

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