Solana Price Eyes $83 as Cathie Wood Boosts SOL ETF Exposure

Solana (SOL) price gained 0.98% on August 18 to trade near $76, while trading volume jumped 25% to $1.38 billion. The uptick comes as Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest increases its exposure to a Solana staking ETF despite cooling demand across spot SOL investment products.

ARK Invest purchased 7,115 shares of the 3iQ Solana Staking ETF on August 17, according to ARK Invest tracker data. Of those shares, 3,830 were acquired through the ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW), while another 3,285 were purchased through the ARK Blockchain & Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF).

The move comes as Solana ETF demand shows signs of slowing. SoSoValue data indicates SOL ETFs have recorded no new inflows since August 12, reflecting weakness across the broader crypto ETF market. Still, Solana ETFs attracted $10.26 million in weekly inflows between August 10 and August 14.

Meanwhile, the Solana price chart is showing a cup-and-handle pattern, which could strengthen the bullish outlook if SOL breaks above the key $76 resistance level. A confirmed close above this barrier could open the door to an 8.9% rally toward $83. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) stands at 53, suggesting modest bullish momentum.

However, $76 remains a significant hurdle, with SOL failing to close above this level since July 20. Another rejection could send the token toward the lower Bollinger Band near $72 before buyers attempt a recovery.

Solana network activity is also weakening. DeFiLlama data shows Solana’s total value locked (TVL) has fallen from $8.19 billion to $4.85 billion. TVL measured in SOL declined from 75 million SOL on June 7 to 63.84 million SOL, while the network’s stablecoin market cap dropped from $16.4 billion to $15.3 billion.

The decline, however, is not unique to Solana, as total DeFi TVL across all blockchains has fallen from $114 billion to approximately $75 billion.