Mapping Solana’s move to $160 – Traders, what should you expect

• Solana whale activity rises, but bullish crowd and derivatives sentiment remain strong.
• Breaking $160 could trigger rapid upside, while failure risks a pullback to $142.

Solana [SOL] has seen significant whale activity recently, with a whale moving 135,000 SOL worth $15.72 million to exchanges over the past nineteen days.

However, despite these large transfers, sentiment remains firmly bullish, both among retail traders and smart money participants. 

At the time of writing, Solana traded at $150.81, reflecting a 2.48% gain over the past 24 hours.

Therefore, despite concerns over whale sell pressure, market participants continue to show strong confidence in Solana’s outlook.

Derivatives market overview – Is rising volume hiding mixed signals?

Solana’s derivatives market has shown notable growth, with trading volume rising by 9.32% to $11.64 billion.

Additionally, Options Volume spiked sharply by 69.25%, suggesting increased speculative positioning in the options market. However, Open Interest (OI) dipped by 4.85% to $5.60 billion, a sign that some leveraged positions might have been closed. 

Therefore, while overall market activity is heating up, the open interest drop introduces a slight cautionary note. It suggests that not all participants are adding new positions aggressively during the current rally.

Source: Coinglass

SOL Funding Rate analysis – Is sentiment neutral or slightly bullish?

The Funding Rate (FR) dynamics add another interesting layer to the current picture.

At press time, the OI-Weighted FR sat close to neutral, at around -0.0006%, while Binance’s FR was slightly positive at 0.006%. Therefore, there is no strong shorting pressure weighing on Solana’s price at the moment. 

Additionally, the mild positivity in FR implies that buyers are not yet overextended. This balance supports the idea that Solana could maintain its momentum without facing an immediate wave of forced liquidations.

Source: Santiment

Technical price structure – Is SOL about to break $160?

Solana’s price structure shows notable strength after bouncing from support and rallying above the Parabolic SAR at $142.25. At the time of writing, Solana maintained a firm hold above the SAR support.

Additionally, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) read 62.79, indicating healthy momentum without reaching overbought conditions yet.

Therefore, Solana has room to push higher before facing exhaustion signals. However, the $160 horizontal resistance remains a major hurdle that bulls must clear to confirm a breakout.

A daily close above this level would likely reinforce bullish sentiment, opening the door toward the $180–$200 region. Conversely, rejection could trigger a short-term pullback toward $142 or even $104, where stronger historical demand zones exist.

Source: TradingView

Liquidation heatmap analysis – What does the current setup suggest?

The liquidation heatmap reveals dense liquidation clusters around the $147 to $150 zone, where Solana currently trades. However, above the $153 mark, liquidation resistance thins considerably, suggesting easier price expansion if bulls break higher. 

Therefore, a clean breakout could trigger rapid short covering and push Solana sharply beyond $160.

Additionally, the heatmap shows solid support layers beneath current levels, meaning downside risk remains cushioned if immediate rejection occurs.

Source: Coinglass

Solana faces a decisive moment as whale movements, bullish sentiment, and strong derivatives’ activity converge. 

Therefore, if bulls can overcome the $160 resistance zone, Solana could ignite a powerful rally fueled by thin overhead liquidity.

However, failure to break higher could force a retest of lower support regions around $142.