Solana holds $78 support as 1,000th epoch milestone meets wallet hack

Solana traded near $78.91, down 3.1% in the past week, as the network's 1,000th epoch milestone was overshadowed by a wallet hack that tested the key support level.

"Solana's defense of $78 is technically significant, but the wallet hack introduces a negative security narrative that could offset positive sentiment from the network milestone," Ted Pillows, a crypto analyst, said on X.

The Solana network reached its 1,000th epoch on July 11, a milestone signaling sustained uptime and validator participation since mainnet launch. However, a wallet hack reported the same day drained user funds, reviving security concerns on the Layer 1 blockchain. SOL has dropped 5% over the past seven days despite a 17% gain over the past month, making it the top-performing token among the top five by market cap during that period, according to CoinGecko.

The $78 level represents a critical technical threshold. A successful hold could reinforce bullish momentum and open a path toward $90, while a breakdown below support would likely trigger stop-loss cascades and a retest of the $70 to $65 range, analysts said. The daily Relative Strength Index remains above 50, suggesting bullish momentum persists for now.

Selling Pressure From Pump.fun

The wallet hack adds to headwinds facing Solana. Pump.fun, the Solana-based memecoin launchpad, sold $10 million worth of SOL on July 10 and has offloaded $794 million in total, according to on-chain data tracked by Arkham Intelligence. The protocol generated $1.1 billion in fees since its launch, with $406 million worth of PUMP tokens burned through its buyback program, per the project's website.

Community members have criticized Pump.fun for extracting fees from traders rather than contributing to Solana's ecosystem growth. The protocol pulls in roughly $25 million per month from users launching and trading memecoins on the platform, Token Terminal data shows.

On-Chain Activity Remains Elevated

Despite the price pullback, on-chain activity on Solana has held steady. Active addresses remain elevated, and DeFi protocols on the chain have maintained total value locked above $4 billion, per DefiLlama. MoonPay recently enhanced payment options on Solana, expanding fiat-to-crypto on-ramps for the network.

Solana's ability to hold $78 in the coming sessions will determine near-term direction. If the level breaks, the odds favor a retest of $70 to $65, while a bounce could set up a second attempt at the $90 resistance zone.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.