A crypto whale opened a massive $24.34 million leveraged long position on Solana (SOL) and Ethereum (ETH) on June 23, 2026, marking an aggressive high-stakes bet on altcoin market resilience. An unidentified entity deployed 20x leverage on a 225,004 SOL position and 25x leverage on 4,723 ETH, targeting historical support levels despite a wider downturn in global equities.
The high-risk trade has already seen significant adjustments as the whale closed the Ethereum portion of the bet for a $14.2K profit. However, the remaining $16.5 million Solana long position is currently under heavy pressure, sitting on an unrealized loss of $616.2K after the token’s price dropped 4% on June 23.
Solana whale bet faces liquidation risk amid tech sell-off
At the time of writing, SOL traded at $68.9, just above its liquidation price of $67.9, illustrating the tight margins of high-leverage trading.
The timing of this $24.34 million exposure coincides with a testing period for the broader digital asset market. Pressure from a risk-off sentiment in traditional markets has hit both Wall Street and crypto exchanges, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq closing lower by 1.3% on Monday.
Ahead of the market open on June 23, Nasdaq Futures were down another 2.5%, creating direct headwinds for assets like SOL and ETH.
Key details
Despite current unrealized losses, the whale’s entry into Solana aligns with a rising wedge pattern that has defined the token’s movement between $60 and $72. While these patterns often break to the downside, rapid growth in network activity has provided some fundamental support.
Solana recently reported 46 million active addresses, up from 4.4 million, leading some analysts to maintain a long-term $250 price target for the asset.
But the immediate market reality is dictated by order books rather than long-term projections. Data from CryptoQuant indicates that exchange inflows to the Gate exchange have increased in recent hours, particularly for Ethereum. This movement suggests investors intended to sell, indicating that while one whale seeks a rebound, others assess impact of resistance levels and prepare to exit positions.
Ethereum support zones and institutional hedging strategies
The whale’s decision to close the Ethereum trade likely stems from the increasingly cautious outlook among institutional players. While the trade initially targeted a “white zone” of support that marked local bottoms in late 2023, 2025, and 2026, the Ethereum recovery outlook remains clouded by a descending channel. ETH recently traded around $1,736, facing resistance levels at $1,811 and above.
Sophisticated and institutional traders are now actively hedging against a possible price drop to the $1,600 and $1,500 ranges. This trend is visible in the activity of whale “pension-usdt.eth,” which increased a 3x leveraged short position to 50,000 ETH, worth $85.28 million. The contrast between these massive short positions and the $24 million long bet highlights a deeply divided market sentiment between the largest holders.
Retail sentiment, however, remains largely optimistic despite the institutional caution. The broader market showed a Long/Short Ratio of 2.73, with approximately 73% of open positions being long compared to 26% short. However, a recent crypto market liquidation of $22 million in short positions proves that aggressive bearish positioning can also be punished by sudden volatility.
Glassnode analysis suggests altcoin season is driven by seller exhaustion
Amid these massive whale trades, analytics firm Glassnode noted that the “altcoin signal” is currently flashing. However, the firm highlighted that the current season is due to altcoins running out of sellers. This “seller exhaustion” thesis suggests that those looking to exit the market have already done so, potentially allowing even moderate buying pressure to spark a rally.
The upcoming Alpenglow upgrade for Solana is also acting as a fundamental catalyst. The upgrade is designed to reduce transaction finality from approximately 12 seconds to under 200 milliseconds, which could improve its appeal for high-frequency institutional applications. For the whale currently underwater, these technische upgrades and the fact that the network now processes 75 million daily transfers support a thesis of long-term utility.
The next few days will be decisive for the remaining $16.5 million Solana position. If Bitcoin continues to struggle after briefly dipping below $62K, the macro pressure will remain high. Observers are also watching a newly created wallet, 0xaeaa, which recently opened $48 million in short positions across BTC, ETH, and SOL.
These opposing high-leverage bets ensure that Solana and Ethereum will remain the primary battlegrounds for crypto’s largest participants.