Solana (SOL) continued to trade sluggishly on Thursday, following a sharp drop of around 20% to approximately $128.62 on Wednesday. This decline has been linked to sustained selling pressure from a major unidentified whale or institutional investor, who has already unloaded over $99 million worth of the cryptocurrency this year.

“Since January 1, this whale/institution has sold an average of 19,306 SOL (worth $2.76 million) weekly, totaling nearly $100 million.” According to on-chain analysis firm Lookonchain tweeted on Sep 3.

The firm also revealed that the whale still holds 1.88 million $SOL (valued at $255.89 million) in staking, raising concerns over potential continued selling pressure.

Notably, SOL has struggled to maintain momentum since reaching a local yearly high of $210 last March, falling into a sideways consolidation pattern similar to other major crypto assets like BTC, ETH, and ADA.

Nevertheless, despite this lull, several analysts remain confident in SOL’s potential. On Wednesday, prominent crypto analyst Javon Marks projected a surge in SOL’s price to $457. In his analysis, Marks highlighted that his $233.8 target for Solana has held steady since mid-2023, when prices were at $16.12, marking a remarkable 1,203% rise. 

With SOL’s recent pullback, the pundit reaffirmed his next target, noting that the breakout holding the price in play continues to show strength, backed by bullish signals that push the price to his target.

“With that pullback and bull signal, we can watch for a break of this $233.8 target, bringing $457.97 into play and room for an additional +93% climb…” he stated.

Other analysts have also expressed optimistic views about SOL. Analyst “Cryptocurb” noted SOL’s consolidation within an asymmetric triangle pattern, tweeting that SOL has been trading between $120 and $210 for over 180 days, fluctuating between monthly support and resistance levels.

He further projected that when this consolidation phase breaks, “the move is going to be MASSIVE.” According to the pundit, we can “expect a swift move up to $400-$500, before advancement to $800-$1,000” or more, once the breakout occurs.

Adding to the positive outlook, Ali Martinez highlighted a potential technical signal for a Solana rebound in the short term. On Thursday, he tweeted that the TD Sequential indicator has issued a buy signal on SOL’s daily chart, suggesting a possible rebound over the next one to four daily candlesticks.

Elsewhere, analyst Sai Prathap highlighted historical price trends leading up to Solana’s annual Breakpoint conference. He pointed out that in previous years, SOL experienced significant pre-event price surges: 68% in 2021, 42% in 2022, and 58% in 2023. 

With this year’s Breakpoint conference scheduled to start on September 20th in Singapore, Prathap suggested a similar rally could occur. He further added that anticipated rate cuts in mid-September could further boost the likelihood of a price surge, emphasizing that it’s a matter of probabilities.

At press time, SOL was trading at $125.44, reflecting a 3.74% drop over the past 24 hours.