Solana: How a $7.5M whale bet could help drive SOL toward $100

Solana [SOL] has shown strong upside momentum in May. The altcoin jumped from a low of $83, touched a high of $97 for the first time since May, and then retraced slightly.  At press time, SOL traded at $95, up 1.02% on the daily charts, adding to its 11% weekly gains. With Solana showing strong upside momentum, some whales are becoming increasingly optimistic. Solana whale takes a $7.5M bet During this period of prolonged market weakness, SOL whales have remained extremely calm, further stretching the market.  However, large market participants have begun to return, especially in the derivatives market. Futures Taker CVD data from CryptoQuant has remained positive this week, suggesting a comeback by buyers in futures.  It seems those returning to the market are whales. Onchain Lens reported that a whale opened a 78,000 SOL long position with 3x leverage, valued at $7.5 million. This whale's position has a liquidation price of $36.05. With SOL retracing, the whale’s position is already down $114K. The decision to go long reflects growing optimism, as the trader expects prices to rise further. This whale is not alone, as derivatives market participation has also surged, with volume up 111% to $14.5 billion and Open Interest (OI) edging higher to $6.3 billion.  Notably, traders on Binance are particularly bullish, with the Long Short Ratio averaging 1.5 as of writing. However, the overall ratio remained below 1 at 0.98, suggesting most traders are still shorting the market. Can SOL's upside momentum hold? Boosted by growing participation in the futures, Solana's upside momentum has strengthened significantly. As such, the altcoin's Relative Strength Index (RSI) rose to 72 and then dropped to 68 at press time. RSI at these levels suggests that buyers have continued to defend higher price levels, thus strengthening the upside momentum. At the same time, the drop indicates that sellers remain active and have consistently attempted to push the market lower. Likewise, the altcoin's Chande Momentum Indicator rose to 69, validating strong bullish pressure. When combined, these two momentum indicators suggest SOL's upside momentum is strong and driven by buyers. Therefore, if these conditions hold, SOL will make further gains and may target the next resistance at $100. For this bullish outlook to hold, SOL must hold $95; failure to do so will see SOL drop below $90 again. Final Summary Solana’s whale activity highlights optimism as a $7.5 million leveraged long emerges, despite retracement losses and rising derivatives participation. Momentum indicators show strong buyer pressure; SOL must hold $95 to target $100, or risk sliding below $90.