Crypto
Solana Holds Near 100 as ETF Flows and Record Usage Point Toward 130
Solana is knocking on a big round number again. SOL traded around $100 this weekend, with 21Shares strategist Matt Mena saying the setup favors holding above that resistance and targeting $130 into the fourth quarter, backed by both ETF flows and onchain data.
The flow story is real. Spot SOL ETFs have drawn more than $500 million in net flows in 2026, steady institutional buying into an asset that spent much of the year out of favor. That bid arrives alongside genuine usage: Solana processed more than 5 billion transactions last month, a record, making it the busiest smart contract network by activity by a wide margin.
The contrast with the last cycle is the angle. Previous Solana rallies were driven by speculative mania and memecoin casino volume. This one has institutions buying the ETF while the network itself runs at record throughput. Usage first, price second is a healthier order of operations, and it gives the $130 target a fundamental spine.
The technical backdrop helps. Solana's builders have spent the last two years upgrading network capacity, including a recent tripling of what fits in a single transaction, so apps have room to grow as demand rises. That capacity is now being filled: record transactions, record ETF demand, and a developer ecosystem shipping through the cycle. Networks that keep building through quiet periods tend to lead the next leg.
Ethereum is riding the same institutional wave. ETH traded around $2,480, and Mena points to the Ethereum ecosystem's quiet strength: Robinhood's new Arbitrum powered Layer 2 became the fastest chain to reach $1 million in daily revenue and $1 billion in trading activity, all within two months of launch. Stablecoin and tokenization trends keep pulling fresh activity into the ecosystem.
The fourth quarter setup keeps stacking. Mena calls it potentially one of crypto's biggest quarters since the Trump election, and adds that if the CLARITY market structure bill passes, a scenario most traders have yet to price in, his targets stretch to $100,000 for Bitcoin, $3,000 for ETH, and $130 and beyond for SOL.
For SOL watchers, the signal is in the activity. Five billion transactions in a month is a network people actually use, and ETF buyers are paying attention. Whether $130 arrives in October or later, the foundation looks more solid than the last time Solana knocked on the door.
Sources
- The Block: SOL strength into Q4
- Finnhub: SOL market data
- CoinDesk: BTC slips under $79,000 as Fed hike odds hold
New to crypto? Read the crypto glossary, browse frequent questions, read our story, or explore the story archive.