In a move catching the attention of crypto market watchers, Galaxy Digital has reportedly swapped over $100 million in Ethereum for Solana, raising questions about institutional confidence in ETH amid a steep drop in dominance and price performance.
A Strategic Portfolio Shift
On-chain data from Arkham, cited by Lookonchain, reveals that Galaxy recently deposited 65,600 ETH (worth $106.5 million) to Binance and withdrew around 752,240 SOL (worth approximately $105 million). The majority of these funds have since been transferred to unidentified wallet addresses.
This move arrives at a pivotal moment: Ethereum’s market dominance recently dipped below 7%—its lowest in history—and the ETH-to-BTC ratio is down nearly 50% year-to-date. At present, ETH trades around $1,627, having lost more than 50% of its value since January.
A Broader Decline in Ethereum Sentiment
The shift may reflect broader market sentiment. Ethereum-based ETFs have experienced continuous outflows, totaling $909 million over the past two months. Meanwhile, Ethereum’s DEX volume fell sharply in March, down to $42.5 billion from $82.2 billion in January, indicating user migration to lower-cost alternatives like Solana and Layer-2 chains.
Despite this downturn, Ethereum is not standing still. The upcoming Pectra upgrade, scheduled for May 7, aims to address scalability and user experience with changes like staking limit increases, support for account abstraction, and enhancements to rollup infrastructure. Additionally, co-founder Vitalik Buterin has proposed a bold overhaul of the EVM, replacing it with the open-source RISC-V standard to boost performance—especially for ZK applications.
A Bullish Bet on Solana?
Galaxy’s significant acquisition of SOL signals growing institutional interest in Ethereum competitors, especially as Solana continues to gain traction in DeFi and NFT ecosystems. While ETH still retains its lead in developer activity and security, Solana’s speed and cost-efficiency may be too compelling to ignore—at least in the short term.
Final Thought
This portfolio adjustment could hint at a temporary Ethereum exit—or a longer-term bet on Solana’s rise. Investors tracking large institutional moves may want to monitor whether others follow Galaxy’s lead or see the current ETH weakness as a buying opportunity.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
