Key Takeaways
- Digital asset manager FalconX has executed the first-ever block trade of CME Group’s SOL futures contract. The trade was conducted outside the open market and was privately negotiated to avoid affecting Solana’s market price.
- CME Group is expected to launch its Solana futures on March 17. The derivatives product was announced in February following growing institutional and retail demand for Solana-based financial instruments.
- The Solana futures will act as a precursor to the upcoming spot Solana exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Both Bitcoin and Ethereum debuted on the traditional market as futures products before being launched as ETFs.
- Analysts expect SOL’s downward trend to end soon, with many forecasting the sixth-largest cryptocurrency to change hands between $235 and $311 by the end of 2025.
Digital asset prime broker FlaconX and leading global financial services firm StoneX have conducted the first-ever block trade of CME Group’s Solana (SOL) futures product, which is expected to be launched on March 17, 2025.
The milestone demonstrated FalconX’s mission to drive up demand for institutional cryptocurrency derivatives trading and adoption of digital assets like SOL. Josh Barkhordar, the head of U.S. sales at the California-headquartered firm, said in a statement that this is a “historic moment” for the Solana ecosystem and provides a way for investors to manage risks and price exposure on a regulated platform.
CME SOL Futures To Launch On March 17, Marking Milestone For Solana Ecosystem
The block trade in this context refers to a large volume of privately negotiated transactions of the Solana futures contract that were done outside the open market to avoid disrupting the cryptocurrency’s price.
CME Group announced its Solana futures contract in late February to meet increasing client demand for investment products based on other leading altcoins as it vies to position the offering as a precursor and “primary pre-requisite” to the upcoming spot Solana exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
The Solana futures will follow the same pattern established by Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), in which case the futures products were released before ETF authorization and approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The CME SOL futures come in two sizes: standard contracts representing 500 SOL ($64,376 at press time) and micro contracts representing 25 SOL ($3,218 at press time).
The futures are cash-settled based on the CME CF Solana-Dollar Reference Rate, which is calculated daily at 4 PM London time. This helps provide a standardized benchmark for SOL’s price in USD. FalconX will operate as a key liquidity provider for CME Group’s crypto derivatives suite. The company has reportedly executed over $1.5 trillion in trading volume across 400 cryptocurrencies for approximately 600 institutions.
Over the past year, several asset management firms have filed applications with the SEC to launch spot SOL ETFs. Franklin Templeton, Grayscale, 21Shares, Bitwise, VanEck, and Canary Capital are among the leading applicants awaiting approval for investment products tracking the price performance of the sixth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.
CME Group claims that its crypto derivatives market has projected substantial growth, with average daily trading volume hitting a peak of 202,000 contracts early this year, representing a 73% increase year-over-year. The exchange reported an average open interest of 243,600 contracts, up 53% YoY, with more than 11,300 unique accounts trading its crypto derivatives products.
Meanwhile, SOL derivatives on centralized crypto exchanges have seen their trading volume increase 66% to $7.24 billion. According to Coinglass data, there is a bullish bias for multiple long and short ratios above 2, despite the SOL market experiencing $12.29 million in 24-hour liquidations.
Solana Celebrates Fifth Anniversary Amid Extreme Downward Price Movement
On March 16, the Solana blockchain celebrated the fifth year of its launch. Since 2020, the network with over 1,300 validators has processed nearly $410 billion worth of transactions. The ecosystem also boasts impressive decentralized exchange (DEX) trading volumes, which recently surpassed $1 trillion.
The Solana blockchain has over $8.5 billion in total value locked (TVL) across its various DeFi protocols, which have handled approximately $408 billion in transactions. Over the past five years, the ecosystem has managed to more than double the network fees and revenues of Ethereum – the largest smart contract blockchain in the world.
SOL’s price is currently facing immense downward pressure, plunging from an all-time high of nearly $270 in January 2025 to below $130 this month. The token has lost 5% of its value in the last 24 hours.
Solana futures market is also facing similar problems, with funding rates on SOL perpetual futures being negative for three days and short sellers putting in money to hold their positions. This is an indication of waning demand for leveraged SOL long positions. Another worrying trend is that SOL accumulation has stalled. The total number of Solana wallets holding at least 10,000 SOL fell from 5,053 to 5,023, signalling that some large investors may be cashing out their investments or reducing exposure to the crypto asset.
SOL Could Trade At $300 By September 2025
However, analysts believe there is enough room for Solana to recover from its downward spiral. Many are forecasting a 10% surge over the next month and record a new all-time high by the end of the year. Experts expect SOL’s price to range between $127.50 and $150.14, with a return on investment of 12.76% in the three months ending in June.
Some are even predicting the leading altcoin to be changing hands far above the $300 mark by September 2025. Meanwhile, others have estimated its price to oscillate somewhere between $235 and $311 by the end of the year, with an ROI of at least 133%.
At the time of writing, Solana (SOL) is trading at $128.28 – down 4.85% in the last 24 hours.
