Solana extends decline amid upcoming $200 million unlocks

Solana (SOL) declined 3% in Friday's early Asian session, impacted by an upcoming $200 million staked SOL unlock from four whale wallets, according to Arkham Intelligence. Additionally, the SEC has acknowledged Fidelity's filing to launch a Solana exchange-traded fund (ETF).

Solana extends losses following $200 million SOL unlock

Solana extended its losses on Friday as the general crypto market remains subdued by bearish sentiment surrounding President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariff plans. The Layer 1 token trades around $115 at press time, down more than 3% on the day and stretching its weekly losses above 15%.

SOL could be set for more downside pressure in the coming days, with market participants anticipating one of its largest single-day unlocks, which will take place on Friday.

Four whale wallets will unlock $200 million worth of staked SOL — the largest single-day unlock for SOL until 2028, per data from Arkham Intelligence. The four wallets, which staked 1.79 million SOL worth a total of $37.7 million in April 2021, have generated a 5.5x return, Arkham wrote in an X post on Thursday.

The high unlock could further dampen sentiment surrounding SOL and weigh on its price if requisite demand fails to catch up with the new supply.

Meanwhile, the SEC acknowledged Fidelity's 19b-4 filing to launch a SOL ETF. The Cboe filed for a SOL ETF on behalf of Fidelity last week, submitting a 19b-4 form for the "Fidelity Solana Fund" with the SEC.

The acknowledgement kicks off a 280-day window for the SEC to decide whether or not to approve the filing.

Fidelity joins several other asset managers awaiting the SEC's decision on their SOL ETF filings, including Bitwise, Grayscale, VanEck, 21Shares and Canary Capital.