Why Has The Solana Price Been Crashing Since October? This Major SOL Player Is Selling

[Ben Graham]

On-chain analytics platform Lookonchain has provided insights into what may have contributed to the Solana price crash since October. The platform revealed that meme coin launchpad Pump.fun has sold a significant amount of SOL, cashing out almost $500 million since the start of October.

Pump.fun Allegedly Dumps SOL Amid Solana Price Crash

In an X post, Lookonchain suggested that Pump.fun has been selling SOL, as it appears that the meme coin launchpad has cashed out at least 436.5 million USDC since October 15. The on-chain analytics platform also stated that since October 15, the meme coin launchpad has deposited 436.5 million USDC into Kraken. 

Furthermore, Lookonchain revealed that between May 19, 2024, and August 12, 2025, Pump.fun sold a total of 4.19 million SOL ($757 million) at an average price of $181. Of that amount, 264,373 SOL was sold on-chain for $41.64 million, while 3.93 million SOL ($715.5 million) was deposited into Kraken. Pump.fun’s SOL sales are known to put significant selling pressure on the Solana price, thereby contributing to its crash. 

Notably, the Solana price has recorded one of the largest losses during this recent crypto market downtrend. SOL crashed from a high of around $220 in October to a low of $120 this month. This has occurred despite the launch of six spot Solana ETFs during this period. Bitwise, Grayscale, Fidelity, 21Shares, VanEck, and Canary have all launched their SOL funds and have recorded notable flows since launch.

SoSo Value data shows that these funds have recorded cumulative net inflows of $568.24 million since their respective listings. Despite this, the Solana price has been in a downtrend amid significant selling pressure from SOL whales. Thanks to the crash, SOL is now down over 28% year-to-date (YTD). The altcoin is also down over 28% in the last 30 days. 

Pump.fun Denies Recent SOL Sales

A Pump.fun spokesperson, Sapijiju, has indicated that they haven’t sold any SOL recently and haven’t contributed to the Solana price crash. In an X post, he described Lookonchain’s post as complete misinformation, as they haven’t cashed any sum. He claimed they were not involved in the transactions between Kraken and Circle that the on-chain analytics platform referenced.

Lookonchain had claimed that during the same period, Pump.fun allegedly cashed out 436.5 million USDC, 537.6 million USDC was sent from Kraken to Circle. Meanwhile, regarding the 436.5 million USDC, Sapijiju stated that what is happening is part of their treasury management, with the USDC part of funds from the PUMP ICO, and with plans to reinvest the sum into the business. 

At the time of writing, the Solana price is trading at around $138, up almost 4% in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap.