Solana (SOL) Price: Will Major Network Upgrades Reverse the 26% Monthly Plunge?

Solana's bleeding won't stop—SOL tanks 26% in a month. Can Firedancer and other upgrades turn the tide?

Network Overhaul or Band-Aid?

Solana's core team swears the Firedancer upgrade—slated for 2025—will turbocharge throughput. But traders aren't holding their breath. After last year's 80% collapse during the FTX meltdown, SOL's 'high-performance' claims ring hollow to burned investors.

DeFi Exodus Accelerates

TVL craters as yield farmers flock to Ethereum L2s. Solana's 400ms block times don't matter when devs can't trust the chain to stay online. Meme coin degens now provide 60% of network activity—hardly the institutional adoption narrative VCs pitched.

Short Senses Blood

Perps funding rates flipped negative last week. 'It's a casino now,' shrugs one hedge fund quant while adjusting his SOL puts. Meanwhile, the foundation keeps hyping 'breakthroughs' like any good bagholder would.

Rebound or Dead Cat? The upgrades might paper over cracks, but reversing network effects takes more than GitHub commits. Just ask the algo-stablecoin graveyard.

TLDR

• Solana is preparing major network upgrades called Firedancer and Alpenglow to boost speed and reduce the risk of outages
• SOL price has dropped 26% in the past 30 days and is currently trading around $140
• Upexi, a major Solana treasury firm, announced a $50 million share buyback program showing confidence in future price recovery
• The $144 to $150 price range is critical, with heavy short positions stacked around $150 creating resistance
• Technical analysis shows both bullish macro patterns and bearish short-term risks, with potential targets ranging from $95 to higher levels

Solana is preparing for major network upgrades that could change how the blockchain operates. The two main updates are called Firedancer and Alpenglow.

Firedancer is a validator client built by the Jump crypto team. It aims to improve the network’s existing infrastructure.

The validator code is currently in advanced testing and limited use on the mainnet. The goal is to make solana run on diverse validator clients.

This WOULD reduce the risk of failures and network outages. Firedancer represents a third-party client option for validators.

Alpenglow was first announced in May 2025. It redesigns how Solana coordinates its validators.

The protocol uses Votor, a lightweight voting system. This finalizes blocks using a single or dual-run voting process.

Technical Upgrades Target Speed and Reliability

The mechanism cuts latency to milliseconds. It also removes the need for gossip between validators.

Higher speed and more transactions per block are expected. Near-instant consensus is another goal of these updates.

SOL is currently trading around $140. The price has dropped 26% over the past 30 days.

Upexi Announces Major Buyback

Upexi, a major Solana treasury firm, just announced a $50 million share buyback program. The company previously allocated $300 million into Solana.

The Board of Directors authorized the repurchase program last Thursday. Management will execute it at times and prices they believe are best.

“We view the repurchase program as an additional tool to enhance shareholder value,” said company head Allan Marshall. The buyback will only happen when it represents an attractive return on capital.

By reducing shares in circulation, Upexi would increase the amount of SOL tokens each share represents. This could result in higher returns if Solana recovers.

On-chain data shows that below $144, support for Solana $SOL drops off fast! There’s barely any meaningful demand until $24. pic.twitter.com/0jcmxMmbaw

— Ali (@ali_charts) November 14, 2025

The $144 to $150 price range is currently critical for SOL. Heavy short positions are stacked around the $150 zone.

These positions create a wall that caps upside attempts. Liquidity clusters are waiting to be taken if buyers push through.

$SOL will quickly recover to its previous levels if it breaks above the short position resistance around $150. pic.twitter.com/xy3TYNoEPf

— CW (@CW8900) November 15, 2025

On-chain data shows a concerning gap beneath $144. Very little historical demand sits at these levels.

If price loses $144 decisively, SOL could drop into a low-volume zone. The next concentration of buyers doesn’t appear until much lower levels.

Technical analysis shows a broader bullish structure on the macro chart. A rounded-base formation is developing beneath long-standing resistance.

Price has repeatedly tested the same supply zone. This compression typically happens before a major breakout.

However, short-term patterns show corrective wave structure with lower highs. The mid-$130s remain vulnerable while price struggles to reclaim the $160 to $177 range.