The price of Solana’s native SOL token is near $84, after a steep, multi-month slide that erased nearly 67% from its September 2025 all-time high, with new on-chain data and community debates pointing to a network under strain.

The mixed signals matter because they show a split between falling market sentiment and activity metrics that suggest users have not abandoned the chain.

Security Patch Delays and Infrastructure Concerns

A February 19 report from Santiment noted that a significant source of recent frustration for the Solana community stems from a critical security scare in January. Client maintainers urged validators to upgrade to Agave/Jito v3.0.14 after disclosing vulnerabilities that could crash nodes and threaten consensus integrity.

Tim Garcia of the Solana Foundation urged operators to update quickly, but reports at the time said over half of validators were still on older versions, exposing the chain to potential risks.

This operational friction resurfaced in February when a network disruption rerouted U.S. traffic through Europe and Asia. While infrastructure providers like DoubleZero noted that such rerouting is a normal part of internet networking, for validators operating a high-speed chain, milliseconds matter.

These events have forced the market to pay closer attention to how smoothly Solana’s decentralized validator set can respond to pressure, as that response directly affects uptime and the safety of funds moving through DeFi.

The uncertainty is reflecting on SOL’s price, which earlier in the month fell 25% in a week to about $96, with analysts such as Ali Martinez warning that losing the $100 zone could open a path toward $74 or even $50.

At the time of writing, the asset was trading around the $84 level, down about 35% over the past month and more than 51% year-on-year. Shorter time frames show mild relief, with gains near 3% in 24 hours and about 6% in seven days, per CoinGecko data.

Technical indicators remain mixed. Some traders say a breakdown near $80 confirmed a bearish chart pattern, while others see a shorter-term setup that could push prices back toward $114 if resistance clears. Santiment added that deeply negative funding rates suggest many traders are betting against SOL, a setup that sometimes comes right before short squeezes.

Activity Growth Contrasts With Fading Hype

Despite the price pressure, Santiment reported rising daily wallet creation in February. That metric tracks new addresses interacting with the network and suggests ongoing user interest even in the face of weakening sentiment.

Exchange data also shows outflows exceeding inflows in recent weeks, a sign that some holders are moving tokens off trading platforms rather than preparing to sell.

Nevertheless, the current mood contrasts with earlier cycles that defined Solana’s culture. According to Santiment, traders still reference past events such as NFT booms, meme coin launches, and exchange-related shocks that once dominated online discussion.

More recently, app builder Zora shifted a new product from Base to Solana, charging about 1 SOL per creation, which sparked debate about incentives but also signaled ongoing developer interest.

Ultimately, Solana’s is a layered picture, with prices and online attention having fallen since late 2025, yet new wallets, active builders, and crowded short positions showing that participation has not disappeared.

The post Santiment: Solana Growth Signals Hope Despite Woes appeared first on CryptoPotato.

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Filed under: Bitcoin - @ February 21, 2026 8:19 pm