Predicting a 15% price rally for SOL is possible IF…

Amid the uncertainty, it appears that crypto whales’ interest in Solana (SOL) has returned, with millions of dollars’ worth of buy positions being recorded for the altcoin recently.

On 9 January, prominent whale tracker Onchain Lens shared a post on X revealing that a crypto whale recently deposited $8.09 million and placed a buy order for SOL within the price range of $133.88 to $135.

This massive buy order is indicative of the whale’s continued interest in SOL, despite the price moving sideways. At press time, SOL’s price was trading at $140 – Up 2.48% over the last 24 hours.

Meanwhile, market participation also hinted at strong interest in the asset, with trading volume jumping by 25% to $5.05 billion.

Solana (SOL) investors, traders turn bullish

A hike in trading volume alongside its price action usually means that traders and investors are showing strong interest in the prevailing trend.

A look at the derivatives data from Coinglass revealed that both investors and traders have a bullish outlook right now. Especially since they have been accumulating positions and betting on the long side lately.

According to the SOL spot inflow/outflow metric, over the last 24 hours, exchanges have recorded net outflows of $1.30 million – A sign of potential accumulation.

Source: Coinglass

At the same time, traders appeared to be over-leveraged at the $136-level on the downside, where they built $111.52 million worth of long-leveraged positions.

Here, it’s worth noting that the $141.4-level represents another over-leveraged level. This is a level where comparatively lower interest has been recorded, with traders building $84.59 million worth of short-leveraged positions.

Source: Coinglass

SOL price action and upcoming levels to watch

These activities appear to be reinforcing SOL’s bullish outlook, but another factor currently playing a key role is price action. According to AMBCrypto’s technical analysis, SOL might be facing a hurdle at the key level of $145.85 on the daily charts. 

Source: TradingView

Since November 2025, SOL’s price has tested this level more than six times. Each time, the altcoin has failed to break above it.

Based on these factors, if SOL successfully breaks this key hurdle and closes a daily candle above the $146-level, there is a strong possibility that it could jump by 15% and hit the $168 level in the coming days.

However, if it fails to breach this level, history may repeat itself, and the price could see a reversal.

At press time, the Average Directional Index (ADX)—a technical indicator that measures trend strength—stood at 27.36, slightly above the key threshold of 25. This hinted at a strengthening trend across the market. Additionally, the 50-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) suggested that SOL will remain on an uptrend over the shorter time frame.

Final Thoughts

• A crypto whale placed buy orders worth $8.09 million for SOL within the price range of $133.88 to $135.
• Both investors and traders remain bullish outlook, but a new price rally will be conditional on a few factors.