Solana (SOL) Price: Despite Billions from Wall Street, Why Is SOL’s Price Declining?

TLDR

• Solana’s real-world asset market cap reached $2.01 billion in Q1 2026, marking a 43% increase from the previous quarter
• BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, Ondo Finance, and Citigroup have all increased their involvement with Solana
• Visa, Stripe, PayPal, and Western Union have adopted Solana for stablecoin payment processing
• SOL’s price has declined 12% since its May peak of nearly $98 and is currently trading around $86
• Analyst Ted Pillows cautions that a daily closing price below $82–$84 may indicate further price declines

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(SeaPRwire) –   Wall Street is showing strong interest in Solana, yet its token price has not reflected this momentum. Despite ongoing development by major financial institutions on the network, SOL has retreated significantly from recent highs.

According to Messari’s latest report, released Monday, Solana’s real-world asset (RWA) market cap grew by 43% in the first quarter of 2026, reaching $2.01 billion. Capital Markets data indicates this figure has since risen to $2.8 billion, with the $3 billion threshold potentially just weeks away.

BlackRock’s tokenized money market fund, BUIDL, grew to $525.4 million on Solana after Anchorage Digital enabled custody support. By the end of the quarter, Anchorage held approximately 81% of the fund’s total supply on the network.

Ondo Finance introduced more than 200 tokenized stocks and ETFs on Solana via Ondo Global Markets. Franklin Templeton collaborated with Ondo to launch tokenized ETF products on-chain, while Citigroup completed a proof-of-concept for tokenized trade finance on Solana in partnership with PwC.

Payments Giants Join the Network

Over the past year, Visa, Stripe, Worldpay, Western Union, and PayPal have either integrated Solana for stablecoin settlement or released Solana-native payment solutions, according to Messari. The network’s low transaction fees and near-instant settlement times are cited as primary drivers.

Solana’s stablecoin market cap stood at $14.85 billion at the end of Q1, placing it third among all blockchains. Adjusted stablecoin transfer volume increased by 13%, reaching $246.8 billion.

Amundi, Europe’s largest asset manager, launched a UCITS-compliant fund on Solana—a standardized mutual fund structure available across the European Union.

SOL Price Under Pressure

Despite robust institutional engagement, Solana’s price has faced downward pressure. After hitting a peak of nearly $98 in early May, it has since fallen about 12%, trading at approximately $86 at the time of reporting.

Analyst Ted Pillows highlighted the development on social media: “$SOL is now at its most critical level. The RSI uptrend has broken, and the price must hold above $82–$84. A daily close below this range would be unfavorable for Solana.”

$SOL is now at its most important level.

RSI uptrend has been lost, and now the price needs to hold above the $82-$84 level.

A daily close below this won’t be good for Solana. pic.twitter.com/dmxqoOVfA1

— Ted (@TedPillows) May 18, 2026

The downturn was exacerbated by leveraged trading activity. Open interest climbed from $4.9 billion to $6.7 billion between May 1 and May 12, triggering roughly $25 million in long-position liquidations within a single 24-hour window.

Spot market outflows have dominated since Monday, with net outflows totaling $33 million in the most recent 24-hour period.

The number of unique RWA addresses on Solana has surpassed 216,000. SOL is presently priced at $86.