Decentral Block Post

The price of Solana (SOL) has soared 40% this week to establish a new 2023 high at around $58. 

That is Solana's best weekly performance since January 2023. Many factors have contributed to the gains, including a general cryptocurrency market uptrend led by Bitcoin ETF euphoria and growing appetite for risk overall.

FTX-dump fears fails to shake Solana bulls

Solana's rise coincides with the daily selling of 250,000-750,000 SOL tokens by FTX bankruptcy estate in the last two weeks.

The Delaware Bankruptcy Court approved the sale of 55.75 million SOL tokens in September 2023. The limited impact of these sales, due to some tokens being either vested or locked, and a weekly sale limit of $100 million, has transformed initial fears into investor enthusiasm.

For instance, Solana-focused funds, one of the barometers to gauge institutional flows in the SOL market, witnessed inflows worth $10.80 million in the week ending Nov. 3, according to CoinShares.

Solana's native token (SOL) experienced an impressive 22% surge on Nov. 10, breaking past the $54 mark for the first time since May 2022. Notably, this surge occurred amid the continuous selling of SOL tokens by FTX's bankruptcy estate. The Delaware Bankruptcy Court approved the sale of the failed exchange FTX assets, which included 55.75 million SOL in September 2023.

Investor enthusiasm for SOL's price increase may be attributed to the fact that some of the tokens from the bankruptcy proceedings are either vested or locked. Furthermore, there's a weekly sale limit of $100 million imposed as part of the FTX liquidation plan. In essence, the initial fear of asset liquidation has transformed into hope as investors realize the limited impact of the sales.

As trader and independent analyst 'Bluntz' aptly described the situation, SOL's resilience during the FTX bankruptcy token dump is impressive. The post on X, (formerly Twitter) adds a bullish case for SOL, stating,

"Once this seller is gone, I can only imagine how hard it's gonna pump."

SOL price has been fueled by solid demand for leverage longs

SOL's substantial 39% weekly gains have pushed its futures open interest to $745 million, the highest level since November 2021 when SOL achieved its all-time high of $260. Still, in futures markets, leverage longs and shorts are constantly matched, so it's crucial to examine SOL's funding rate for a more nuanced perspective.

News of BlackRock registering the iShares Ethereum Trust increased expectations that the asset manager may eventually apply for an Ether (ETH) spot exchange-traded fund. This is a positive sign as it shows that BlackRock’s cryptocurrency aspirations are not limited to Bitcoin (BTC).

Market observers are increasingly optimistic that spot Bitcoin ETFs will be greenlighted by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission in 2024. Bloomberg Intelligence research analyst James Seyffart said on X (formerly Twitter) that there is still a 90% possibility that the regulator will approve a spot Bitcoin ETF by Jan. 10 of the next year.

Galaxy Digital founder Mike Novogratz believes that the approval of the Bitcoin ETF, followed by the Ether ETF, will boost institutional adoption in 2024. During Galaxy Digital’s third-quarter earnings call on Nov. 9, Novogratz exhibited confidence that approval for ETFs “is now not a matter of if but when.”

Could the expectations regarding ETF approvals sustain the rally in Bitcoin and select altcoins, or will profit-booking set in?

Let’s analyze the charts of the top 10 cryptocurrencies to find out.