Solana trades near $82.00, down 3.44% in 24 hours amid a $285M DeFi exploit and broader market weakness. Key support and resistance levels analyzed, plus an early-stage L3 presale gaining traction.
By Daniel Francis
Editor CoinSpeaker Editorial Team
Updated
3 mins read
Solana USD is trading near $83.00 today (April 13), up a modest +1.3% in the prior 24 hours. A confluence of ecosystem stress and macro pressure has put near-term bulls on the defensive. SOL is holding steady above $80, but a loss of this level could lead to a deeper correction.
The immediate catalyst is hard to ignore as Solana’s DeFi total value locked dropped 12% following a $285M exploit on Drift Protocol, rattling confidence across the ecosystem.
🚨NORTH KOREA JUST PULLED OFF THE MOST TERRIFYING HACK IN CRYPTO HISTORY.. AND IT TOOK THEM 6 MONTHS OF PATIENCE..
They didn't send a phishing email.. They didn't exploit a smart contract.. They built a relationship..
Fall 2025.. A "quant trading firm" walks up to Drift… https://t.co/pTScEhV9sb pic.twitter.com/z8awPLGQ7l
— Evan Luthra (@EvanLuthra) April 5, 2026
The Solana Foundation moved quickly, launching its STRIDE and SIRN security initiatives in response, a sign the organization is taking the breach seriously, though market participants are still pricing in the risk. Meanwhile, the SEC and CFTC have classified SOL as a digital commodity, a longer-term positive that is providing little immediate price support.
Broader crypto market weakness is amplifying the move. Bitcoin’s trajectory over the coming days will likely determine whether SOL finds a floor or extends its decline. Right now, BTC USD is trading at $71,600, up +0.8% on the day, but it is struggling to regain $72,000, leaving bulls concerned.
At current levels near $83, SOL is consolidating within a contracting triangle visible on hourly charts, characterized by fading highs and repeated retests of key support. The RSI has cooled to approximately 47, not oversold, but no longer showing bullish momentum. That middle ground is precisely what makes the setup difficult to trade.
Analysts on TradingView are closely watching three price clusters. The $84–$85 band represents immediate overhead resistance; a clean break above that level would invalidate the short-term bearish structure. Below the current price, the $70–$72 zone and a $62 demand zone are considered the next meaningful supports, with the mid-$50s Fibonacci retracement flagged as a potential entry.
The scenario breakdown looks roughly like this:
Security concerns have been a persistent overhang on SOL’s price action, and the Drift exploit has renewed that conversation at an inconvenient technical moment.
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When a blue-chip Layer 1 like Solana USD faces simultaneous technical pressure, a nine-figure exploit, and macro headwinds, some capital predictably rotates toward earlier-stage infrastructure plays with lower entry points and asymmetric upside profiles. That dynamic is worth examining, not as a reason to abandon SOL, but as context for where certain risk appetites are moving.
LiquidChain ($LIQUID) is a Layer 3 infrastructure project that has attracted attention for its cross-chain architecture. Its core proposition is straightforward: fuse the liquidity of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana into a single execution environment, enabling developers to deploy once and access all three ecosystems simultaneously.
The project’s Unified Liquidity Layer, Single-Step Execution, and Verifiable Settlement features are designed to address fragmentation, a structural problem that incidents like the Drift exploit tend to highlight.
The presale is currently priced at $0.01449, with $657,000 raised to date. Those are early-stage numbers, which cut both ways: the entry point is low, offering maximum upside to those seeking a true degen play for Q2.
Visit the LiquidChain Presale Website Here.
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Disclaimer: Coinspeaker is committed to providing unbiased and transparent reporting. This article aims to deliver accurate and timely information but should not be taken as financial or investment advice. Since market conditions can change rapidly, we encourage you to verify information on your own and consult with a professional before making any decisions based on this content.
Daniel Frances is a technical writer and Web3 educator specializing in macroeconomics and DeFi mechanics. A crypto native since 2017, Daniel leverages his background in on-chain analytics to author evidence-based reports and deep-dive guides. He holds certifications from The Blockchain Council, and is dedicated to providing "information gain" that cuts through market hype to find real-world blockchain utility.
North Korean hackers linked to the $285M Drift Protocol exploit and a Solana DEX infiltration. Analyze SOL’s security outlook and what it means for DeFi investors.
By Daniel Francis
Editor CoinSpeaker Editorial Team
Updated
4 mins read
Solana’s DeFi ecosystem is under siege, and the threat is not a code vulnerability. It is a nation-state. Within the span of eight days, North Korean operatives allegedly drained $285M from Drift Protocol and embedded a suspected agent inside a separate Solana exchange as its chief technology officer. Price data remains clouded by the turbulence, but the security narrative surrounding SOL USD is deteriorating faster than any chart level can capture.
Solana-based decentralized exchange Stabble urged users to immediately withdraw liquidity on Tuesday after a pseudonymous on-chain investigator, ZachXBT, identified the protocol’s former CTO, operating under the name Keisuke Watanabe, as an alleged North Korean hacker.
Our latest update:
We can confirm now until one year ago we had a NK developer in the team.
He was backed by other north Korean that supported his work. We thank @derparsel and @zachxbt for their work.Historically we have done audits with Sec3 and neodyme – everything looked…
— stabble (@stabbleorg) April 8, 2026
The protocol, recently handed over to a new management team, began the day with approximately $1.75M in total value locked, but the emergency alert triggered a 62% TVL collapse to under $663,000, according to DeFiLlama data. “EMERGENCY!” the new team posted on X. “Guys, please temporarily withdraw your liquidity instantly! Better safe than sorry.” No exploit has been disclosed, but the firm confirmed it is conducting security audits.
The Stabble incident does not stand alone. It follows the $285M Drift Protocol hack on April 1, confirmed by TRM Labs, Elliptic, and Chainalysis as a DPRK operation, which now ranks as the largest DeFi exploit of 2026. The pattern raises a structural question the market cannot ignore: Is Solana’s performance advantage being systematically weaponized against it?
Precise 24-hour price figures for SOL are not available at the time of writing, but the on-chain data tells its own story. The Drift attack, executed in approximately 10 seconds through social engineering, oracle manipulation, and pre-signed durable nonce transactions, saw stolen funds swapped into USDC and SOL before being bridged to Ethereum via CCTP. That conversion created direct, measurable sell pressure on SOL at a moment when broader crypto markets were already navigating macro uncertainty.
Technically, Solana faces a bear case scenario if further exploits surface or fund-tracing operations by TRM Labs and Elliptic prompt additional exchange freezes. The base case assumes containment: the Solana Foundation’s ecosystem security programs are already active, and the Stabble team’s transparency arguably limited contagion this time.
$SOL is forming a textbook bearish flag and the breakdown has already started.
Last move: consolidation → breakdown → -54% drop Now the same structure is repeating again.
If this continues, $SOL could be heading toward the $45 zone.
This isn’t random price action it’s a… pic.twitter.com/Aw92mJ2k8Z
— Crypto Lens (@crypto_lens_) April 9, 2026
A bull case requires both a clean audit result from Stabble and no new DPRK-linked incidents, a condition that feels precarious given North Korea reportedly stole $2Bn in crypto during 2025 alone, representing roughly 60% of global crypto hacks that year. The Drift exploit, second only to the $326M Wormhole breach in Solana’s history, has reset the ecosystem’s risk premium.
Elliptic described the Drift attack as “a continuation of DPRK’s sustained campaign” to fund weapons programs. That framing, state adversary, not opportunistic hacker, changes how investors should model tail risk on Solana-native positions.
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The Stabble incident crystallizes a tension that has been building quietly: SOL USD delivers speed, but that speed sits on an infrastructure whose human attack surface has now been demonstrated twice in a week.
Bitcoin, for all its limitations, slow transactions, high fees, and limited programmability, has never suffered a comparable state-level infiltration of its core infrastructure. That asymmetry is exactly the gap Bitcoin Hyper is positioning to close.
Bitcoin Hyper describes itself as the first Bitcoin Layer 2 integrating the Solana Virtual Machine, targeting sub-second finality and low-cost smart contract execution while anchoring security to Bitcoin’s base layer — the one chain North Korean hackers have conspicuously left alone.
The project has raised $32M at a current presale price of $0.0136783, with staking rewards available to early participants. Key infrastructure includes a Decentralized Canonical Bridge for BTC transfers and high-speed SVM execution, effectively Solana’s throughput bolted onto Bitcoin’s trust model.
Visit the Bitcoin Hyper Presale Website Here.
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Disclaimer: Coinspeaker is committed to providing unbiased and transparent reporting. This article aims to deliver accurate and timely information but should not be taken as financial or investment advice. Since market conditions can change rapidly, we encourage you to verify information on your own and consult with a professional before making any decisions based on this content.
Daniel Frances is a technical writer and Web3 educator specializing in macroeconomics and DeFi mechanics. A crypto native since 2017, Daniel leverages his background in on-chain analytics to author evidence-based reports and deep-dive guides. He holds certifications from The Blockchain Council, and is dedicated to providing "information gain" that cuts through market hype to find real-world blockchain utility.
Solana Foundation Launches STRIDE Security Program
By Neil Mathew
Edited by ahmed
Updated
3 mins read
The Solana Foundation launched a structured ecosystem security initiative on Monday, partnering with blockchain security firm Asymmetric Research to introduce STRIDE – Solana Trust, Resilience and Infrastructure for DeFi Enterprises – a tiered evaluation and monitoring program open to all Solana-based protocols, alongside a coalition incident response network that formalizes coordinated threat containment across the ecosystem.
The announcement, published in a Foundation blog post, arrives less than two weeks after a $270 million exploit against Drift Protocol exposed the depth of administrative and operational security gaps that conventional smart contract audits do not address.
That the Foundation is now funding ongoing security operations at scale – rather than issuing post-incident guidance – signals a material shift in how the ecosystem’s primary institutional backer is calibrating its security posture ahead of anticipated institutional capital inflows.
Solana was built for security. As the ecosystem scales, so does our investment in the tools, standards, and support.
Today that commitment deepens with a new security program, active monitoring, formal verification for top protocols, and a new crisis response network.
Learn… pic.twitter.com/17M4TgqpsQ
— Solana Foundation (@SolanaFndn) April 6, 2026
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The mechanism functions as follows. Asymmetric Research will independently evaluate applicant protocols against a multi-pillar security framework covering operational security, access controls, multisig configurations, governance vulnerabilities, smart contract integrity, key management practices, and economic design – a scope that extends materially beyond the static code review that conventional audit reports provide.
Evaluation results will be made publicly available to users and investors, establishing a shared, comparable standard for protocol safety rather than the siloed, sponsor-commissioned reports that currently dominate the space. STRIDE v0.1 is live and open for all Solana DeFi protocols to apply immediately, with findings published to a public repository.
The program applies differentiated support based on total value locked. Protocols that pass evaluation with more than $10 million in TVL will receive Foundation-funded 24/7 active threat monitoring and ongoing operational security support calibrated to risk exposure.
We're tripling down on security for Solana DeFi:
– New security program with @asymmetric_re
– Hands-on opsec reviews and public reports
– A 24/7 active threat monitoring center
– A dedicated network for real-time crisis response
– Formal verification for top protocols https://t.co/XrVaxw7tH6— vibhu (@vibhu) April 6, 2026
Those exceeding $100 million in TVL will be offered access to formal verification tools – mathematical proof-based methods that check all possible smart contract execution paths, not merely the paths a manual reviewer anticipates. That tiered structure is doing deliberate work: it concentrates the highest-cost security resources on the protocols whose failure would generate the most systemic damage, while still providing a credible baseline evaluation for smaller entrants.
Alongside STRIDE, the Foundation launched the Solana Incident Response Network (SIRN), a membership-based coalition of security firms dedicated to real-time analysis, containment, and remediation during live exploits.
Founding participants include Asymmetric Research, OtterSec, Neodyme, Squads, and Zeroshadow. SIRN is open to all Solana-based protocols, though the Foundation’s blog post states that access will be prioritized by TVL and impact – a triage model that reflects how incident response resources are most efficiently deployed under time pressure.
The Foundation noted that STRIDE and SIRN build on existing no-cost ecosystem tools including Range Security for risk alerts, Sec3 X-Ray for static analysis, and Auditware Radar for vulnerability detection.
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Disclaimer: Coinspeaker is committed to providing unbiased and transparent reporting. This article aims to deliver accurate and timely information but should not be taken as financial or investment advice. Since market conditions can change rapidly, we encourage you to verify information on your own and consult with a professional before making any decisions based on this content.
Neil is a professional cryptocurrency content writer with years of experience. He has written for various cryptocurrency websites to report on breaking news, and been hired by all sorts of cryptocurrency projects, to create content that would increase their exposure and attract more potential investors.
Solana Policy Institute: Crypto Policy Enters New Phase
By Daniel Francis
Editor CoinSpeaker Editorial Team
Updated
3 mins read
The Solana Policy Institute, a Washington-focused nonprofit launched in late 2025 to advance blockchain-specific legislative and regulatory strategy, has characterized the current U.S. crypto policy environment as entering a materially new phase – one defined by implementation rather than survival, and by legislative specificity rather than existential debate.
Kristin Smith, President of the Institute and former executive director of the Blockchain Association, stated the shift plainly: ‘For a long time we were playing defense,’ adding that the industry’s posture has now moved toward establishing durable rules of the road.
We suspect the Institute’s public framing is not merely descriptive but strategic – a signal to institutional capital, regulatory counterparts, and legislative staff that the sector has sufficient policy stability to warrant engagement at a higher level of specificity.
When a blockchain-specific policy organization with this institutional pedigree characterizes the environment this way, it functions as a credibility marker aimed at the compliance officers, asset managers, and agency rulemakers who have been watching from a cautious distance. The timing – coinciding with the Clarity Act’s anticipated April 2026 markup and the post-GENIUS Act settlement of stablecoin policy – reinforces that reading.
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The Solana Policy Institute describes itself as a non-partisan nonprofit operating across three policy arenas: Congress, where it pursues legal certainty through market structure legislation; federal regulatory agencies, where it engages on rulemaking; and the White House, where it monitors and shapes executive priorities.
Its CEO, Miller Whitehouse-Levine – formerly an early employee of the DeFi Education Fund – has been explicit that the Institute’s advocacy is intended to be technology-neutral, seeking a level competitive playing field rather than outcomes that advantage Solana-based infrastructure over rival networks.
2/ @millercwl's take:
“I think that the easiest way to think about it is @Solana operates like a multi-lane highway versus a single lane road.
So on blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum, everyone queues up and goes through the same doorway or down the same road in order.…
— Solana Policy Institute (@SolanaInstitute) March 31, 2026
The specific developments underpinning the Institute’s ‘new phase’ characterization are identifiable. The GENIUS Act’s passage in 2025 resolved the most contentious stablecoin questions – reserve requirements, issuer eligibility, federal versus state licensing – that had stalled legislative progress for two prior congressional sessions.
The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, known as the Clarity Act, is tracking toward committee markup in April 2026 with reported bipartisan support, which would represent the first comprehensive market structure bill to advance that far in the Senate. Whitehouse-Levine has articulated the Institute’s core concern as the weaponization of legal ambiguity – noting that ‘crypto better than any other industry unfortunately understands how legal ambiguities or interpretations can be weaponized against an industry’ – and has framed clear SEC-CFTC jurisdictional demarcation on securities versus commodities as the central structural objective.
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Disclaimer: Coinspeaker is committed to providing unbiased and transparent reporting. This article aims to deliver accurate and timely information but should not be taken as financial or investment advice. Since market conditions can change rapidly, we encourage you to verify information on your own and consult with a professional before making any decisions based on this content.
Daniel Frances is a technical writer and Web3 educator specializing in macroeconomics and DeFi mechanics. A crypto native since 2017, Daniel leverages his background in on-chain analytics to author evidence-based reports and deep-dive guides. He holds certifications from The Blockchain Council, and is dedicated to providing "information gain" that cuts through market hype to find real-world blockchain utility.
Solana Reclaims $80 as Network Transactions Hit Record High
By Daniel Francis
Edited by Fatima
Updated
3 mins read
The parallel rise suggests that genuine network utility, rather than just speculative trading, may be establishing a solid floor for the asset.
Transactions on the Solana Network (Daily, 7DMA) Source: The Block
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Data indicates that Solana’s network is undergoing a massive stress test, validating its high-throughput design. The network exceeded 116 billion total transactions over the last year, with daily non-vote transactions hitting 148 million in late January. This volume represents a significant divergence from previous cycles.
What is fueling this intense volume? While memecoins continue to contribute to network traffic, there is a distinct shift toward sustainable finance. As Solana moves beyond its meme coin phase, decentralized exchange (DEX) volumes have rivaled Ethereum’s, driven by sub-cent fees and faster finality. Furthermore, the rise in real-world asset (RWA) tokenization hitting record values suggests that institutional adoption and stablecoin settlements are playing a larger role in these on-chain metrics than in previous years.
Solana Metrics Source: RWAs
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SOL USD Price Analysis Source: TradingView
Solana is currently changing hands at $87.16, marking a 1.65% increase over the last 24 hours. The primary focus for traders has been defending the $80 mark, a level that previously served as a strong demand zone. Market analysts note that holding this region is vital for preventing a slide toward lower liquidity zones. While the asset has formed a logical base here, it still faces resistance overhead.
Some price predictions suggest the dip below $100 may have been a final capitulation event, but bulls must reclaim the psychological three-digit barrier to confirm a definitive trend reversal. Conversely, a failure to hold $80 could expose the asset to deeper downside, as broader crypto market sentiment remains fragile.
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The divergence between high network usage and suppressed price action often precedes a valuation realignment. Institutional confidence appears to be returning alongside retail activity; for instance, key ecosystem player Jupiter recently announced a major investment deal to further settle in JupUSD, highlighting the capital flowing into Solana’s infrastructure despite price volatility.
However, risks remain. On-chain analytics from Nansen suggest that while user adoption is real, evidenced by active addresses doubling recently, maintaining this momentum requires the fee market to stabilize against potential congestion. Can the fundamentals finally force a decoupling from broader market corrections? The coming weeks will likely determine if record-breaking usage can translate into sustained price appreciation.
Disclaimer: Coinspeaker is committed to providing unbiased and transparent reporting. This article aims to deliver accurate and timely information but should not be taken as financial or investment advice. Since market conditions can change rapidly, we encourage you to verify information on your own and consult with a professional before making any decisions based on this content.
Daniel Frances is a technical writer and Web3 educator specializing in macroeconomics and DeFi mechanics. A crypto native since 2017, Daniel leverages his background in on-chain analytics to author evidence-based reports and deep-dive guides. He holds certifications from The Blockchain Council, and is dedicated to providing "information gain" that cuts through market hype to find real-world blockchain utility.
Solana OG Builders: Next Chapter Bigger Than Memecoins, FTX
By Daniel Francis
Edited by Fatima
Updated
3 mins read
Is Solana “moving” from Solana meme coins? Leaders from major Solana protocols argued at Consensus Hong Kong 2026 on Thursday that the network’s next phase will prioritise scaling global finance over speculative memes. The panel emphasized that the ecosystem has moved beyond survival mode following the 2022 FTX collapse, focusing on application-layer utility.
Why change to a more “serious” approach? The network’s reputation was previously tied to volatile meme coin trading and its connection to Sam Bankman-Fried’s defunct exchange. While meme coins and Pump.Fun made the success of Solana in the past years, now it seems the focus is on moving on to developing infrastructure to support traditional financial systems. More reliable and stable than meme coins.
With stablecoin supply on the network exceeding $15.5 billion, the narrative is shifting from hype around fast meme coins to a practical payment rail utility.
🚨 “If Solana doesn’t do it, nobody will.” – Lily Liu, President of the Solana Foundation.
At Consensus Hong Kong 2026, Lily Liu doubled down on Solana’s role as the last serious contender to push blockchain innovation forward – especially in real-world finance and peer-to-peer… pic.twitter.com/4VOX7frhYq
— Solana Daily (@solana_daily) February 11, 2026
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Speaking directly to the shift in priorities, Armani Ferrante, founder of Backpack Exchange, described the FTX collapse as a “brutal” clearing event that ultimately strengthened the developer base.
The single most important thing happening right now across any blockchain is all of finance coming onchain,
Ferrante stated, noting that current crypto markets remain a fraction of global liquidity. “We have a proof of concept. That’s it.”
Austin Federa, co-founder of DoubleZero, highlighted that while capital fled during the crisis, “Solana lost no technical teams,” proving that the developer ecosystem operates independently of price action. This focus on utility is already manifesting in capital flows. Recently, significant institutional players have deepened their involvement, as seen when Jupiter announced a strategic investment deal to settle in JupUSD.
Ecosystem tokens like Jito and Jupiter are now moving at speeds distinct from the broader market, driven by this specific utility.
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The transition from “ETH killer” narratives and meme coins hype to a general-purpose execution layer requires constant vigilance. Federa warned that feeling “comfortable” in blockchain is a precursor to being overtaken by competitors. Upcoming network upgrades aim to further reduce latency, essential for the high-frequency demands of real-world asset (RWA) tokenization and institutional trading.
Solana Price Analysis Source: TradingView
Despite the precarious short-term price action, analysts project SOL could trade between 128 and 178 USD by the end of 2026 as DeFi scale increases. With projects like Kamino and Jito creating foundational liquidity layers, the ecosystem is positioning itself to capture institutional volume that demands reliability over hype.
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Disclaimer: Coinspeaker is committed to providing unbiased and transparent reporting. This article aims to deliver accurate and timely information but should not be taken as financial or investment advice. Since market conditions can change rapidly, we encourage you to verify information on your own and consult with a professional before making any decisions based on this content.
Daniel Frances is a technical writer and Web3 educator specializing in macroeconomics and DeFi mechanics. A crypto native since 2017, Daniel leverages his background in on-chain analytics to author evidence-based reports and deep-dive guides. He holds certifications from The Blockchain Council, and is dedicated to providing "information gain" that cuts through market hype to find real-world blockchain utility.
Bitcoin BTC
$77 214
2.95%
Ethereum ETH
$2 422
3.20%
XRP XRP
$1.5
2.68%
BNB BNB
$644
1.57%
Solana SOL
$89.0
0.04%
