Solana Price Prediction as Whales Open $9M Long Bets Ahead of September 9 Network Upgrade

Solana (SOL) price is down by 2.37% today, September 8, to trade at $102 at the time of writing. Despite this drop, whale addresses have opened $9 million in long positions on Solana, suggesting that they anticipate an uptrend ahead of a network upgrade that will take place on September 9.

Whales Open $9M Worth of Long Positions on Solana

Data from CoinGlass shows that five whale addresses on Hyperliquid are betting that the price of Solana will continue with the uptrend that commenced on August 17. These five whales have opened $9.11 million long positions on SOL between September 7 and September 8.

Solana Long Positions (Source: CoinGlass)

These long positions are opening ahead of an upgrade on Solana that will triple the transaction size from 1,232 bytes to 4,096 bytes.

Analyst Crypto Tony says that the upgrade will ensure that multiple transactions can be bundled into one transaction. He adds that this change will give Solana a competitive edge over Ethereum because unlike SOL that is limited to 1,232 byte transactions, Ethereum does not have a set protocol size limit.

“By more than tripling this ceiling to 4,096 bytes, Solana is looking to eliminate this structural bottleneck,” the analyst said.

Still, Ethereum is also working to improve its network, with an earlier report by CoinGape noting that Vitalik Buterin teased the biggest upgrade on ETH since the merge, focused on making the network resistant to the threats of quantum computing.

Futures Market Remains Broadly Bearish Despite Whale Longs

Data from CoinGlass shows that Solana’s funding rate has turned negative. This change suggests that there are more short traders than long traders. It also suggests that the five long whale positions on Hyperliquid are taking a contrarian position to most futures traders.

Solana Funding Rate (Source: CoinGlass)

The long/short reading of 0.92 also suggests that there are more short accounts than long accounts, as traders also bet that the Solana price will drop.

The demand for futures positions on Solana has also dropped, with the derivative volume numbers dropping by 16% to $6.53 billion at the time of writing. The open interest is also down by 1.21% to $6.47 billion.

Still, inflows to Solana ETFs have persisted, with the products recording ten straight weeks of inflows, suggesting that demand from institutions remains high despite weakened demand from futures traders.

Solana Price Tests Symmetrical Triangle Support as Momentum Weakens

The price of Solana is trading within a symmetrical triangle pattern on the four-hour chart. This pattern usually precedes a breakout on either side depending on whether the buying or the selling pressure is high.

The triangle pattern has a height of 16%. If the price of Solana moves below the lower trendline of this triangle, it could drop by 16% and reach $84. However, if Solana moves above the resistance at $107, the price could gain by 16% and reach $124.

The RSI reading of 45 supports a bearish long-term Solana price outlook. The RSI line that is making a lower low also suggests that the selling pressure is increasing despite the upcoming upgrade on September 9.

SOL/USDT: 4H Chart (Source: TradingView)

The AO bars that are red and shrinking in length also suggest that the bullish momentum is becoming weak, suggesting that the price of SOL might move to test the psychological support at $100.

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  • Crystal Kim is a New York-based markets and investing reporter with more than 10 years of experience. Prior to joining Investopedia in July 2025, she covered crypto for Axios.

Crystal Kim

Crystal Kim is a New York-based markets and investing reporter with more than 10 years of experience. Prior to joining Investopedia in July 2025, she covered crypto for Axios.