Why is it important to study the holding institutions?

The crypto market moves quickly, so who is buying? How much have they bought? Who is selling? Where is the selling pressure concentrated?

Which funds are locked up long-term, and which funds might flow out at any time?

These questions determine the price elasticity of tokens and the potential for price fluctuations in the next cycle.

Staking, accounting for approximately 66.9%

According to data from Solana Compass, the total supply of SOL is 610 million tokens.

As of September 16, approximately 408 million SOL have been staked across the Solana network, accounting for 66.9% of the total supply. This is essentially made up of staked retail investors, DeFi protocols, publicly traded company treasuries, foundations, and institutional whales.

In comparison, the staking rate for ETH is only 40%. This makes SOL one of the mainstream public chains with the highest staking rate in the crypto market, indicating limited selling pressure and strong price support.

Analysis of Staking Concentration:

There are also some highlights in the staking validator landscape, according to Everstake data:

1. The top three validators, Helius, Binance Staking, and Galaxy, collectively control over 26%, with Helius alone holding 13.22 million SOL (accounting for 9.76%).

2. Following them are several nodes such as Ledger by Figment, Kiln, Coinbase, and Everstake, each holding between 3% and 6%.

This indicates that Solana's staking landscape presents a "head concentration + long tail dispersion": major institutional nodes have significant influence, but overall, a certain level of decentralization is maintained, avoiding complete domination by a single entity.

⚠️ Note: The data in the pie chart below mainly shows the distribution of top validators and does not equal the total staked amount of 408 million SOL across the network.

DeFi Protocols

According to DeFiLlama data, the total value locked (TVL) in Solana is approximately 52.89 million SOL. However, it is important to note that a significant portion of this comes from LST derivatives (such as JitoSOL, mSOL, bSOL), not all of which are SOL. This part of the data also overlaps with the 66.9% staking data across the network and is not an independently added locked amount.

Foundation

The SOL held by the Solana Foundation and Solana Labs is primarily placed in staking accounts, which are included in the already staked 408 million SOL, with specific proportions not disclosed.

FTX, Alameda

The uniqueness of SOL lies in a "historical legacy" portion, which refers to the chips held by FTX and Alameda.

During the early ecosystem development of Solana from 2020 to 2022, FTX and Alameda were among the most important supporters, buying and holding SOL on a large scale. After the collapse of FTX in November 2022, this portion of assets was put into custody and entered liquidation proceedings. Their future unlocking, auctioning, and even over-the-counter trading will affect the supply-demand balance of SOL.

Since November 2023, FTX and Alameda-related staking addresses have redeemed and transferred a total of 8.98 million SOL.

Currently, about 4.18 million SOL (accounting for 0.69%) are still staked on-chain, with phased unlocking until 2028.

This portion is viewed by the market as potential selling pressure, which could lead to price fluctuations.

Public Companies, accounting for approximately 1.59% (unstaked portion)

According to data from Strategic SOL Reserve (as of September 16), 17 entities have established SOL treasury reserves, totaling 17.112 million SOL, accounting for 2.8% of the current total supply.

Among these holdings, approximately 7.4 million SOL are staked, accounting for about 1.2% of the total supply.

Top holding companies:

• Forward Industries (FORD): 6.822 million SOL, approximately $1.63 billion

• Sharps Technology (STSS): 2.14 million SOL, approximately $510 million

• DeFi Development Corp (DFDV): 2.028 million SOL, approximately $480 million

• Upexi (UPXI): 2 million SOL, approximately $470 million

• Galaxy Digital: 1.35 million SOL, approximately $320 million

In the total breakdown, this portion only counts the unstaked 9.71 million SOL (approximately 1.59%) to avoid double counting with the overall staking.

ETF/ETP, accounting for approximately 1.73% (unstaked portion)

ETP (Exchange Traded Products) are essentially fund shares listed on trading platforms. The following ETPs will directly buy and hold SOL spot, then issue corresponding shares for circulation on trading platforms.

1. 21Shares ASOL with a scale of approximately $1.53 billion

2. CoinShares SLNC with a scale of approximately $699 million

Estimated within the range of $200 to $260, this corresponds to a holding of approximately 8.57 to 11.15 million SOL, accounting for 1.41% to 1.83% of the total supply.

Although traditional spot SOL ETFs are still awaiting regulatory approval, the REX-Osprey SOL + Staking ETF (SSK) was launched in July 2025, becoming the first ETF in the U.S. that combines SOL spot and on-chain staking yields.

As of mid-September, the fund size is approximately $274 million. Of this, about 56.7% is in spot SOL, estimated within the range of $200 to $260, corresponding to approximately 598,000 to 777,000 SOL.

In total, the three spot holdings amount to approximately 9.17 to 11.92 million SOL, accounting for 1.50% to 1.96%, with an average of about 1.73%. The nature of this funding leans more towards long-term stability.

Others, accounting for 29.78%

Whales/Trading Platforms

According to CoinCarp Rich List data (as of September 16), a single whale address holds over 5 million SOL (approximately 1% of the total supply). Overall, Solana currently has about 9.15 million addresses, with the top 100 addresses accounting for only 22.8%, indicating limited concentration at the top, with most chips distributed among long-tail users, staking pools, and trading platforms.

It is important to note that whale addresses are not necessarily all "retail investors"; they include early VCs, trading platforms, dormant wallets, etc. Additionally, there is an overlap between whale holdings and staking, as many whale chips have already been staked.

Retail Investors

Dispersed but numerous, they form the basic market.

Undisclosed Institutions

Some funds or venture capital hold but have not entered the reports.

Government Holdings

As of now, there has been no publicly disclosed government or sovereign fund directly holding SOL.

Celebrity Endorsements

Beyond funding, there is also narrative. Who is bullish on SOL?

Matt Hougan, the Chief Investment Officer of Bitwise, recently emphasized in an article that Solana is at a critical window for ETP approval + the rise of corporate SOL treasuries, a combination that has historically led to significant price increases for Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Former Goldman Sachs executive Raoul Pal @RaoulGMI described Solana as "stupidly bullish in the long term," expressing a long-term bullish outlook on SOL.

Notable cryptocurrency trader Ansem @blknoiz06 recently expressed bullish views around the narrative that "if treasury companies enter Solana DeFi, it will be extremely bullish."

Mert Mumtaz, CEO of Helius Labs, bets that Solana will rise by 150% in the next five years, believing that any short-term price movements are just noise.

From the holding structure to the narrative level, SOL has entered a phase of "institutional buying drive + market bullish sentiment." Combined with the Hyperliquid liquidation chart, the current price is at $238:

First target: $250 - $275 ------ the first layer of short liquidation zone above, once broken, it may trigger short-term acceleration.

Second target: $275 - $315 ------ the area with the densest accumulation of shorts, a breakthrough may lead to stronger short squeezes.

As ETF/ETP and corporate treasury resonate, market expectations for Solana will also be restructured. If the capital flow continues, it is possible for SOL to hit the $300-$400 range in a bull market.