Altcoin season hasn’t started, but Solana sees rising institutional interest and major accumulation moves in May 2025.
According to recent reports and analyses, Solana is currently experiencing an increase in new developer activity and is attracting capital from institutions and favorable signals from on-chain data.
Although the altcoin season has not yet arrived, SOL has garnered the attention of institutional investors
The data indicates that the market trading volume of altcoins continues to be lower than the levels observed in January 2025 and 2024. It is still a considerable distance from the zenith levels of 2021. This implies that the altcoin market has not yet achieved the vibrancy required to initiate a robust growth cycle.
“We have a long way to go before we see the same levels of interest in alts that we saw in previous rallies,” shared Nic Puckrin, co-founder of Coin Bureau.
Conversely, Solana (SOL) is becoming a beacon of hope, drawing the attention of institutional investors, despite this challenging environment.
In particular, numerous institutions have increased their SOL holdings before the altcoin season. A whale recently increased its holdings by 17,226 SOL and invested $1 million in FARTCOIN and $300,000 in LAUNCHCOIN, according to OnchainLens.
Another whale withdrew 296,000 SOL from FalconX and staked it, indicating a trend of accumulation and long-term commitment to the Solana ecosystem.
Additionally, the total value of DeFi Development Corp’s Solana holdings has recently exceeded $100 million due to an increase of over 170,000 SOL. Similarly, SOL Strategies increased its investment portfolio by more than 122,524 SOL in May.
These actions indicate the high level of confidence that institutional investors have in Solana’s future growth potential.
The Solana Ecosystem is flourishing
In addition to the interest from institutional investors, Solana is also experiencing favorable indicators from its ecosystem. The fact that 65% of SOL’s total supply is staked is a positive indicator, demonstrating the community’s confidence in Solana’s long-term potential and stability.
In Q1 2025, Solana generated a total app revenue of $1.2 billion, as previously reported. This figure represents a 20% increase from the previous quarter’s total of $970.5 million. It represents Solana’s most successful quarter in the last 12 months, illustrating a robust ecosystem recovery following a year of substantial volatility.
In addition, the real capital inflow into SOL over the past 30 days has returned to positive territory, growing at a rate comparable to that of XRP, as indicated by Glassnode data. Even though the broader altcoin market has not yet completely taken off, these signals suggest that on-chain demand for Solana is beginning to recover.
Solana’s 2021 Performance Is Similar to Ethereum’s
Another noteworthy analysis from the X account jon_charb indicates that the ATH price of SOL at the beginning of 2025 is strikingly comparable to Ethereum in 2021. In particular, SOL experienced a substantial price increase earlier this year, similar to Ethereum’s breakout before the 2021 altcoin season.
If history repeats itself, Solana may be in an accumulation phase before a new development cycle, particularly as institutional investors continue to invest capital in its ecosystem. This parallel serves to fortify one’s belief in SOL’s potential and underscores the potential for this blockchain to dominate the forthcoming altcoin season.
Nevertheless, it is important to acknowledge that the altcoin market is still in the early recovery phases. The market sentiment remains cautious, as evidenced by lower spot trading volumes than their previous highs.
However, the accumulation efforts of institutional investors and the expansion of Solana’s ecosystem indicate that SOL may be poised for a substantial increase in value when market conditions improve.
