After the catastrophic collapse of FTX and the courtroom and bankruptcy wrangling that followed, some declared that Solana (SOL)—a favorite digital asset of convicted founder Sam-Bankman Fried—was doomed or even dead. But Arthur Hayes, the former CEO of BitMEX, has recently turned the spotlight on the blockchain, suggesting that it has a promising trajectory amid a volatile market landscape.
“I think it might be time to get back on the train fam,” he tweeted, sharing a chart of Solana’s price movements. “Maybe after a few U.S. banks bite the dust this weekend.” The tweet gathered over 1,100 likes a few hours after being posted.
As a cofounder of BitMEX who rode out the tumultuous waves of the 2017 bull run and the 2018 crypto winter, Hayes’ market predictions are closely watchedin the cryptocurrency community.
Earlier this week he wrote an essay positing a potential downturn for Bitcoin, exploring a drop to the $30K-35K range. He said he decided to sell some tokens to prevent further losses.
“I also dumped my trading positions in Solana and Bonk at a slight loss,” he shared. He also said he purchased $35,000 in strike puts—reserving the right to buy at a specific price.
Hayes said that as soon as Bitcoin starts its recovery journey, he will first load up on altcoins—and buying Solana would be a big part of that.
“If my base case comes to pass, once Bitcoin drops below $35,000, I will start bottom fishing,” he said. “I will load up on Solana and $WIF.”
Solana’s recent market dance
Solana’s journey since October 2023 has been emblematic of the crypto market’s notorious volatility. From a modest valuation of $21.90 then, SOL experienced a bullish surge, peaking at an impressive $125.97 by Christmas. However, the dawn of the new year brought a price correction, with the token’s value dipping to $78.14 on January 23.
Despite these fluctuations, Solana has shown remarkable resilience, surviving a brief price dump before gradually recuperating to its current price of $96.52.
Although the trend has lost momentum after January’s dip, the price is still over the average of the previous 10 and 55 days, which is considered a bullish signal among traders. If Arthur’s bullish take plays out, SOL may be on its way to testing its January peak near $110-$120.
With Bitcoin presently hovering around $42.3K, the crypto community is abuzz with speculation regarding the future of the most important altcoins. While they are riskier, after all, they tend to yield better results in bullish times.
Hayes’ previous comments on Solana, preceding its impressive rise to triple digits, add a layer of credibility to his current predictions.
Edited by Ryan Ozawa.
