Solana derivatives indicators cool sharply… $80 support put to the test

YM Lee

Summary

Solana futures open interest has fallen 75% from five months ago, indicating that positions are being liquidated rather than fresh buying coming in.
SOL’s funding rate has stayed negative for more than a week, with an annualized cost of 20%—a sign of strong conviction among sellers.
SOL has underperformed the total crypto market cap by 11% over the past 30 days, while dApp revenue and institutional demand also remain weak.

As Solana (SOL) tests support around $80, derivatives indicators are signaling bearish sentiment.

According to Cointelegraph on the 18th (local time), SOL has failed to reclaim the $89 level over the past two weeks. After facing resistance near $145 in mid-January, it plunged to $67.60 during the Feb. 6 selloff, and the subsequent rebound has shown limited momentum.

Outflows are particularly pronounced in the futures market. SOL futures open interest has fallen 75% from $13.5 billion five months ago. This suggests that positions are being liquidated rather than fresh long bets coming in.

Funding rates also point to a bearish tilt. Short holders are currently paying costs at an annualized rate of about 20%. A funding rate staying negative for more than a week is interpreted as a sign of strong conviction among sellers. Over the same period, Ethereum (ETH) posted an annualized funding rate of around 1%.

Spot performance has also lagged. Over the past 30 days, SOL has underperformed the total crypto market capitalization by 11%. It is also down about 67% from its $253 peak recorded in September 2025.

Weak price action is also weighing on on-chain profitability. Based on DefiLlama data, weekly dApp revenue on the Solana network stands at $22.8 million, the lowest level since October 2024. Of that, memecoin launchpad Pump accounted for $9.1 million, or roughly 40% of the total.

By contrast, weekly dApp revenue on the Ethereum network rose 2% month on month to $16 million. On Ethereum, core DeFi infrastructure projects such as Sky, Flashbots and Aave are generating much of the revenue. The market assesses that while Solana still relies heavily on retail investors and memecoin activity, Ethereum continues to hold an edge in total value locked and higher-value DeFi segments.

Institutional demand also remains limited. According to CoinShares, assets under management in Solana exchange-traded products total $2.1 billion, 86% lower than Ethereum’s $15.8 billion. While Bitwise, Fidelity, Grayscale, 21Shares, CoinShares and REX-Osprey offer SOL-related products, inflows have remained limited.

SOL