Solana Posts First Monthly Gain in Ten Months as Institutional Demand Rises

link" href="/prices/solana">Solana (SOL) ended August with a roughly 46% price increase, snapping a ten‑month streak of monthly declines and delivering its strongest month since 2024. The token traded near $106 on the weekend, after reaching $110.38 on August 27, its highest level since late January.

Institutional Money Fuels the Rally

U.S. spot Solana ETFs have attracted about $1.34 billion in net inflows since their launch in October 2025. Bitwise’s BSOL fund, which also offers staking exposure, now holds over $1 billion in assets. Goldman Sachs disclosed roughly $88 million of Solana ETF exposure in a recent filing. Corporate buyer Defi Development Corp. purchased 19,000 SOL at an average price of $98.14, raising its holdings to approximately 2.33 million SOL.

Broker‑Dealer Access Expands

Charles Schwab announced plans to add spot SOL, along with Avalanche (AVAX) and Chainlink (LINK), to its Schwab Crypto platform in the coming months. Schwab serves roughly 39 million brokerage accounts and oversees more than $12 trillion in client assets.

On‑Chain Governance Tightens Future Supply

Solana completed its first binding on‑chain governance vote (SGP‑0002, “Double Disinflation”). The proposal passed with 67% support, doubling the annual disinflation rate from 15% to 30% and reducing the projected issuance by about 18.9 million SOL over six years.

Network Activity Hits New Peaks

The network processed a record 4.2 billion transactions in July, 13.5% higher than June and roughly 91% above December 2025. From August 17‑23, it logged about 1.32 billion non‑vote transactions, setting another weekly record.

Upcoming Technical Upgrades

Transaction V1, scheduled for September 9, will increase the maximum transaction size from 1,232 bytes to 4,096 bytes, giving developers more capacity per transaction. A planned rent reduction could eventually cut the on‑chain storage deposit by up to 90%.

Short‑Position Liquidations Add Momentum

More than $16 million of SOL short positions were liquidated during the August breakout, according to derivatives data, adding buying pressure to the rally.

Outlook for September

Traders will watch the implementation of the rent reduction, the September 9 Transaction V1 upgrade, and progress toward the Alpenglow consensus upgrade slated for October to gauge whether the August rebound can be sustained.