Solana’s price has faced significant volatility over the past week due to recent market troubles. This has led to a sharp decline in its futures market sentiment as leveraged traders appear reluctant to take bullish positions.
This lack of confidence increases the risk of a further price drop, with SOL eyeing a dip below the $130 level in the near term.
Solana Struggles as Traders Exit
SOL’s negative funding rate is an indicator of the waning bullish bias among its futures traders.
According to Coinglass data, SOL perpetual futures have maintained a negative funding rate for the past three days, indicating that short sellers are paying to hold their positions. At press time, this stands at -0.0060%.
The funding rate is a periodic fee exchanged between long and short traders in perpetual futures contracts to keep the contract price aligned with the spot market.
As with SOL, when this rate is negative, it means that short sellers (those betting on a price decline) are paying fees to long traders, indicating a bearish sentiment in the market.
Therefore, more traders are positioned for a price drop, reinforcing the downward pressure on the coin’s price.
Moreover, the lack of confidence among SOL futures traders is reflected by its plummeting open interest. At press time, this is at $3.94 billion, falling 19% since the beginning of March.
An asset’s open interest tracks the total number of active futures contracts that have not been settled.
When this falls, especially during a period of price decline, it suggests that traders are closing positions without opening new ones. This confirms the reduced conviction in a short-term SOL price recovery among its futures traders.
Solana Bulls Weaken—Can They Prevent a Drop Below $130?
At press time, SOL trades at $137.70, resting just above the support floor of $136.62. As bullish sentiment tapers, this level risks being flipped into a resistance zone.
Should this happen, SOL’s price could slip below $130 to exchange hands at $120.72.
On the other hand, if bullish momentum returns to the SOL market, this bearish projection will be invalidated. In that scenario, new demand could drive the coin’s price to $182.31.
The role of stablecoins is expanding beyond the crypto market and attracting attention from traditional financial institutions. Meanwhile, new regulations from Europe and the US could make stablecoins more useful in the real world.
However, these regulations also pose challenges for stablecoin issuers like Tether and Circle. Currently, Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC dominate the stablecoin market capitalization, but many experts believe this could change in the future.
Expert Questions the Sustainability of Tether and Circle’s Business Model Under New Regulations
A recent PitchBook report revealed that the top 10 stablecoins have a total market capitalization of approximately $220 billion—up from less than $120 billion two years ago. Tether alone accounts for about 65% of this total, while USDC holds another 25%.
Market Capitalization of Top 10 Stablecoins.Source: PitchBook
The report also highlighted that fiat-backed stablecoins are the most common, making up around 95% of the total supply. However, Robert Le, a senior analyst at PitchBook, warned that such a high concentration carries risks.
“Another major risk is centralization, in which a single entity such as Tether or Circle controls the minting and burning of tokens, raising concerns about decision-making and conflict of interest. An issuer might halt redemptions or freeze funds under regulator pressure, hurting legitimate holders,” PitchBook Analyst Robert Le commented.
Legal risks are also becoming more evident as US regulators draft specific rules for stablecoins. Several bills, including FIT21, GENIUS, and STABLE, are currently under discussion.
The US is expected to introduce stablecoin-specific legislation next year. This would legalize stablecoins but impose stricter requirements on issuers, such as higher reserve standards, mandatory audits, and increased transparency. Meanwhile, the EU’s MiCA regulations require stablecoins to meet banking-like standards. In response, Tether has opted out of the European market to avoid MiCA compliance.
Traditional Finance Firms Plan to Enter the Stablecoin Market
A report from Ark Invest stated that in 2024, the total annual transaction volume of stablecoins reached $15.6 trillion—equivalent to 119% of Visa’s volume and 200% of Mastercard’s. Despite this, the number of stablecoin transactions remains relatively low at 110 million per month, only 0.41% of Visa’s and 0.72% of Mastercard’s.
This suggests that the average stablecoin transaction value is significantly higher than those of Visa and Mastercard.
Meanwhile, investment giants such as BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, and Fidelity are offering tokenized money market funds. These funds function similarly to stablecoins and could directly compete with USDC and USDT.
“We further expect that every major financial platform or fintech app will seek to launch its own stablecoin, hoping to lock users into seamless payment ecosystems. However, we believe only a handful of trusted issuers—those with regulatory greenlights, recognized brands, and proven technological reliability—will ultimately capture the majority of market share.” – PitchBook predicted.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) had previously confirmed that El Salvador is upholding its commitment to halt Bitcoin accumulation within its public sector.
Yet, on-chain data reveals a different reality that the Central American nation is continuing to grow its Bitcoin reserves quietly.
Bitcoin Accumulation Continues in El Salvador Despite IMF’s Policy Claims
In an April 26 press briefing, Rodrigo Valdes, Director of the IMF’s Western Hemisphere Department, stated that El Salvador is complying with the agreed non-BTC accumulation policy.
“In terms of El Salvador, let me say that I can confirm that they continue to comply with their commitment of non-accumulation of bitcoin by the overall fiscal sector, which is the performance criteria that we have,” Valdes stated.
“The program of El Salvador is not about bitcoin. It’s much more, much deeper in structural reforms, in terms of governance, in terms of transparency. There is a lot of progress there. And also, on fiscal. And authorities have been making a lot of progress implementing the reform,” he continued.
Beyond BTC, Valdes stressed that fiscal reforms are another priority for El Salvador. These measures could unlock access to as much as $3.5 billion in financial assistance, potentially boosting private sector investments and supporting sustainable economic growth.
El Salvador’s efforts are tied to its December 2024 agreement with the IMF for a $1.4 billion loan. As part of the deal, the financial regulator required the government to revise its Bitcoin policies.
These changes included removing mandatory BTC acceptance for merchants, ending Bitcoin-based tax payments, and scaling back the Chivo wallet project.
Stacy Herbert, Director of the National Bitcoin Office, emphasized that El Salvador will continue to expand its strategic Bitcoin reserve.
She explained that this move helps the country maintain its first-mover advantage in the crypto space.
“El Salvador continues front-running the rest of the world by adding to its Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. First mover advantage intensifies,” Herbert said.
Meanwhile, the country’s embrace of emerging technologies continues to attract international attention. Stablecoin issuer Tether recently relocated its headquarters to El Salvador, praising the nation’s favorable regulatory environment.
In addition, El Salvador recently signed a letter of intent with AI leader NVIDIA to develop sovereign artificial intelligence infrastructure. This move will strengthen its position as a rising innovation hub in Latin America.
Since the Pi Network mainnet launched on February 20, it has made headlines for its ambitious goals. Yet, it has also faced substantial criticism. The underwhelming price performance and lack of DApps, among other issues, have raised questions about Pi Network’s ability to meet the expectations of its reported 60 million users, referred to as Pioneers.
Below are five key areas of underperformance that emerged as focal points for observers in early 2025.
1. Pi Network’s Lack of Binance Listing
Pi Network’s community has been vocal in its push for a listing on major exchanges like Binance. In fact, 86% of participants voted to list Pi Coin (PI) in a February community vote.
Despite this show of support, Binance has not listed PI. On May 15, the exchange posted its logo on X (formerly Twitter) featuring several mathematical symbols, including π. The post sparked speculation among Pioneers, but no official listing announcement followed.
The absence of a listing has led to renewed scrutiny over Pi Network’s credibility. Notably, Binance applies a rigorous evaluation process before listing any asset.
The exchange considers user adoption, business model viability, relevance, tokenomics, technical security, team background, and compliance with regulatory standards. The decision not to list Pi Coin may indicate that the project has yet to meet one or more of these critical benchmarks.
“I now better understand why Pi is not listed on major exchanges such as Binance and Coinbase. It is likely that the Pi Core Team has not been transparent enough about the locking and burning mechanism involving the billions of Pi coins currently owned by the PCT,” Pioneer Dr. Altcoin posted on March 22.
Coinbase, another top exchange, has also refrained from listing Pi. This has further fueled disappointment among Pioneers about the token’s potential for mainstream adoption. Nonetheless, Pi Coin remains available for trading on HTX, Bitget, MEXC, and OKX.
2. Pi Coin Price Fails to Meet Expectations
Pioneers have been actively mining Pi Coin for around six years, anticipating major gains. Yet, its price was a major letdown for many. At launch, Pi Coin was listed on OKX with a floor price of just $2. This was way below its IOU trading value.
The underwhelming debut worsened as PI dipped below the $1 mark shortly after listing. Although the token rebounded to an all-time high of $3 in late February, the rally was short-lived. PI soon resumed its downtrend, falling below $1 again by late March.
Last week, the level was briefly reclaimed as support. Yet once more, PI failed to hold above it. These declines came despite some bullish catalysts.
The launch of the Pi Ventures Fund was followed by a sharp price drop rather than a recovery. Additionally, Pi Network founder Nicolas Kokkalis made a rare public appearance at Consensus 2025 on May 16.
Many hoped it would restore investor confidence. Instead, the token plunged. BeInCrypto data showed that PI dipped 42.6% over the past week. At press time, Pi Coin’s price was $0.7, down 3.1% over the past day.
While the official announcement outlines a funding pool of up to $100 million, Pi Network Foundation retains full discretion over the deployment of these funds.
“The Pi Foundation is not obligated to invest the entire $100 million, based on the quality of applicants and number of startups accepted into the initiative,” the blog read.
The initiative also allows for phased investments over time. Additionally, the Foundation can discontinue funding at any stage. This condition has not been well received by some in the community, who expected more immediate and guaranteed support for ecosystem development.
“The $100M promise investment will discontinue from time to time if they don’t see any investors coming or having no impact at all LOL,” a user wrote.
4. Pi Network’s Missing Decentralized Apps (dApps)
The concerns extend beyond the fund’s stability. Dr. Altcoin alleged that the team is using the fund to build DApps that should have already been completed.
He explained that one of Pi Network’s mainnet launch conditions was deploying 100 live dApps. As of May 2025, this promise remains unfulfilled, with most dApps still missing from the ecosystem.
“After 6 years of waiting, why isnt anyone asking the real question: Where are the 100 Dapps we were promised?” the analyst stated.
The shortfall has left many in the community questioning the network’s readiness and ability to support a functional ecosystem.
5. Pi Network’s Roadmap Issues
Another major concern is the lack of transparency. Pi Network unveiled a three-phase roadmap for its mainnet migration in April 2025, but the absence of specific timelines has frustrated users.
A report from BeInCrypto highlighted the community’s backlash, emphasizing that the roadmap did not include estimated dates or an audit process to address discrepancies in historical mining data. This has further deepened distrust in the project’s leadership.
That’s not all. Other issues, such as delays in KYC and challenges in migrating tokens to the Pi Network mainnet, have also been prevalent.
Thus, Pi Network’s first three months post-launch have been marked by unmet expectations and growing disillusionment among its Pioneers. As the network navigates these setbacks, its ability to deliver on its ambitious vision will be critical to restoring confidence in the months ahead.
