Consolidation Phase Starts As Token Movement Plateaus

After the market’s astonishing recovery, Solana (SOL) has entered another consolidation phase leading to lower volatility which gives the bulls much-needed rest after capturing huge gains. According to Coingecko, the token is down a measly 2% in the past 24 hours but is still in the green at the 30-day timeframe at over 9% gains.

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Although SOL gained a lot during the market’s strong rebound, there has been some news that has also affected the token’s movement, hampering growth while shaking some investors off of the token. 

Major Vulnerability Patched Quietly 

Just last Thursday, a vulnerability was detected by the Solana Foundation, leading them to release a quick patch that resolves the issue. According to Solana validator Laine, the vulnerability was known after members of the Solana Foundation reached out to them, advising of an upcoming security patch along with the date and identifier for the incident. 

Anatomy of a patch

In the past few hours a critical security vulnerability and patch were disclosed on Solana, this public disclosure occured after a supermajority of stake had already been patched to protect the network. Let’s look at how this process unfolded and how 70% of…

— Laine ❤️ stakewiz.com (@laine_sa_) August 9, 2024

After 24 hours, a patch was pushed through to GitHub making it accessible to stakers. It included the patch itself along with instructions for verifying the downloaded files. All this happened under strict confidentiality. 

“During the next 24 hours several other core members reached out to confirm readiness and reiterate the need for urgency and confidentiality,” Laine stated on their X post detailing the incident. 

This led to some members of the Solana community questioning the decision to keep the incident hush-hush to the broader public which was only after the incident.

“Another act of centralized control, by Solana. The key is to manage to contact enough stake to protect the network while retaining confidentiality. The power to select and contact validators concentrates influence in the hands of just a few. This undermines the network’s decentralization, which is typically a blockchain’s main defense mechanism against censorship and collusion. What could stop you from doing this same process to introduce exploits into the blockchain too?” Dave, a commenter on the post, said criticizing the “centralized” decision of the devs and stakers. 

https://t.co/wLBpweefdz

— Solana (@solana) August 9, 2024

In light of this, the official X account of Solana posted a “Letter to the Solana Ecosystem,” which seems to be in response to the public announcement of the security vulnerability and the subsequent patch. The post only reiterates certain events within Solana. 

Hampered Investor Confidence Leads To Slight Dip

The market is not only the factor that influences SOL’s price. The guts of the platform and how it creates and builds value influence this as well. This is best shown by the SOL’s current price movement which reflects the slight loss of confidence by investors on Solana. 

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As of now, SOL bulls are still trying to stabilize around the $147.93 and $159.83 price range where they will remain until the fear, uncertainty, and doubt dies out. If they are successful in taking control of this price range, we might see SOL at a higher price floor, possibly reaching $186 in the coming months. 

Investors and traders should monitor Solana’s communication channels to distinguish whether other investors are still bullish on the platform. 

Featured image from Mudrex, chart from TradingView