Solana’s price has approached the $200 mark, buoyed by news of Upexi’s acquisition of 100,000 SOL.
At the time of writing, the coin is trading at $195.47, according to CoinGecko. Over the past week, the token has risen by 17%, and over the month, by 44%.
Upexi’s total reserves have reached 1,818,809 SOL, valued at $331 million. The firm financed the deal through $200 million in equity and convertible notes.
According to a press release, the company acquired more than half of the tokens at a discount, resulting in $58 million in unrealized profit considering the price increase and discount. Nearly all the coins have been staked, with an expected annual yield of $26 million at the current 8% rate.
Upexi CEO Allan Marshall described the strategy as a “first-of-its-kind treasury management model for altcoins on public markets.” The firm also introduced a new valuation metric, Basic mNAV, calculated as the ratio of market capitalization to the value of SOL in reserves.
Experts on the ‘People’s Cryptocurrency’
The news of the large purchase coincided with a forecast from crypto analyst Christiaan.
$SOL is ready for a massive pump.
Targeting $400-$450 for this bull run. pic.twitter.com/gYc6AmBBOt
— Christiaan (@ChristiaanDefi) July 21, 2025
He wrote that Solana is “ready for a massive pump” and could reach $400–500 in the current bull phase.
In comments to ForkLog, Bitget COO Vugar Usi Zade noted a significant increase in whale activity over the past week. Investors are showing interest in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, reflecting growing institutional optimism towards crypto assets.
“Whales have accumulated large positions in Ether, including a recent stake in SharpLink, while Solana continues to attract interest due to its thriving DeFi and meme coin ecosystems,” the speaker said.
TECHNOBIT CEO Alexander Peresich added that the growth of Ethereum and Solana is not coincidental, as these platforms are direct competitors and often seen by investors as alternative solutions with comparable potential.
“Solana represents a high-performance blockchain with an architecture focused on scalability and latency minimization through its Proof-of-History consensus mechanism. This technological base allows Solana to surpass Ethereum in transaction processing speed and cost reduction,” the expert believes.
According to the Bitget representative, whales continue to focus on established first-layer platforms with high efficiency, though there is also interest from large investors in highly volatile tokens like PEPE and WIF.
“With the growth of total value locked, sustained inflows into ETFs, and strategic whale positioning, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana have every chance of further growth in the third quarter of 2025,” the specialist concluded.
CoinDesk’s Co-Managing Editor Omkar Godbole expects the “people’s cryptocurrency” to rise to $215 and beyond. He noted that technical indicators point to a sustained bullish trend.
He stated that the positive outlook is also indicated by rising moving averages on daily and intraday charts. Bollinger Bands have expanded to their maximum since the first quarter, ending a period of low volatility and suggesting potential growth.
Additionally, the 50-day simple moving average (SMA) is poised to cross the 200-day SMA from below. This pattern, known as the “golden cross,” is considered a strong bullish signal.
The combination of these factors suggests a potential rise of SOL to the upper boundary of the ascending channel.
On July 21, Solana’s price reached $200 for the first time since February. This increase followed the announcement of a new block creation architecture by Jito Labs and Jito Foundation.