Solana (SOL) has demonstrated resilience, rebounding to trade at approximately $144 on Wednesday, signifying a nearly 7% recovery in just 24 hours.

This upward movement follows a steep 15% drop from recent highs, underscoring the inherent volatility of the cryptocurrency market.

Contributing factors include large-scale profit-taking, macroeconomic fluctuations, and developments within the Solana ecosystem.

Profit-Taking Triggers a 15% Decline  

On-chain data points to a significant profit-taking event as the primary catalyst for the recent price drop. Glassnode analytics reveals that Solana’s “Realized Profit” indicator spiked on Monday, reaching an hourly value of $257 million.

• This surge coincided with Bitcoin’s climb toward $180, prompted by President Trump’s announcement of a Crypto Strategic Reserve incorporating SOL. Investors swiftly liquidated their SOL holdings, securing short-term profits.
• Interestingly, Glassnode’s findings highlight that 99% of the $255 million profit-taking originated from investors holding SOL for merely one day to one week. This indicates that opportunistic, short-term traders capitalized on the price surge induced by the announcement, leading to substantial downward pressure and a correction to around $136.
• Despite price fluctuations and a cooling memecoin market, Solana’s Decentralized Exchanges (DEXs) continue to thrive. According to DeFiLlama, Solana has maintained its leading position in DEX volume for five consecutive months, generating $109 billion in February—24% more than Ethereum and nearly 300% higher than Arbitrum. Key contributors include Raydium ($41 billion), Meteora ($25 billion), and Orca ($22 billion).

While memecoin platform volumes, such as Pump.fun, saw a sharp 63% decline from January to February, overall trade activity remains robust. This shift toward stablecoins and renewed DeFi activity positions Solana as a dominant force within the decentralized finance landscape. Notably, Solana accounts for 54% of market activity and has generated $285 million in app revenue, surpassing all other blockchain platforms combined.

What you should know 

Looking ahead, Solana is poised to implement critical protocol upgrades aimed at enhancing network sustainability.

• Two Solana Improvement Documents (SIMDs), 0123 and 0228, are scheduled for validator voting in March. SIMD 0123 proposes prioritizing stakers with fee incentives to improve on-chain transaction performance and boost staking rewards.
• Meanwhile, SIMD 0228 focuses on adjusting SOL’s inflation rate to inversely correlate with the staked supply, potentially reducing token dilution and selling pressure.

However, these developments have sparked debate. Asset manager VanEck warns that these changes could diminish validator income by up to 95%, potentially impacting smaller operations and raising concerns about network security and decentralization.

While reducing inflation aligns with long-term goals of sustainability, the trade-off may pose challenges in the short to medium term.

[Nairametrics]

President Bola Tinubu, on Wednesday, presided over a meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) at the State House in Abuja.

Naija News reports Wednesday’s FEC meeting is the second for the week after the one earlier held on Monday.

On Monday, the council approved several memos, including the one for the completion of the Oyo-Ogbomoso road project and the license approval for new private universities in the country.

The agenda of today’s meeting is yet to be revealed, but the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, at the end of the last meeting, had indicated that another meeting of the council was scheduled for today.

At the commencement of today’s meeting, the council honoured two former members who passed on recently with a minute of silence.

Those honoured were the first female Minister, Adenike Oyagbola, who served under late Shehu Shagari’s administration and late Chief Edwin Clark, who was a Federal Commissioner for Education and later Information.

The meeting was still in progress at the time of filing this report.

In other news, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, has denied describing the recent Supreme Court ruling on the political crisis in Rivers State as reckless.

Peter Obi, in a statement on Wednesday, clarified that even if the Supreme Court ruling is not agreeable to him, he couldn’t have described it as reckless.

Naija News reports the former Anambra State Governor made the clarification following some reports claiming he described the verdict of the apex court on Rivers State as reckless.

Obi, however, explained that his submissions were misinterpreted and taken out of context.

[NaijaNews]

Rivers State deputy governor, Professor Ngozi Odu, says she has not resigned.

In a trending video on social media, it was reported that the deputy governor resigned as a result of intense pressure.

In a statement which her press secretary, Owupele Benebo, issued on her behalf, on Wednesday, she said contrary to the viral social media video the deputy governor has remained committed to her responsibility.

“The Office of the Deputy Governor of Rivers State wishes to categorically debunk the false and misleading reports circulating online suggesting that Her Excellency, Prof. Ngozi Nma Odu, DSSRS, has resigned.

“Contrary to these baseless claims, Her Excellency remains committed to her duties as Deputy Governor, a position she was duly elected to serve alongside His Excellency, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, GSSRS, the Executive Governor of Rivers State .

“As a seasoned public servant and academic, Prof. Odu is dedicated to supporting the Governor in his efforts to deliver dividends of democracy to the good people of Rivers State.

” Her exemplary leadership and expertise have been invaluable to the administration, and she remains steadfast in her commitment and support to His Excellency Sir Dr. Siminalayi Fubara, GSSRS,” Owupele Benebo stated in the press statement.

The statement urged the public to disregard , “the unfounded reports, which are clearly the product of malicious speculation.”

[DailyTrust]

FIFA President Gianni Infantino has confirmed that the final of the 2026 World Cup will feature a half-time show for the first time in the tournament’s history.

Infantino also revealed on Wednesday that the World Cup would “take over” Times Square during the final and third-place match.

The introduction of a half-time show will see the World Cup adopt a tradition similar to the spectacle at the Super Bowl.

Next year’s competition will be held across 16 cities in the USA, Canada, and Mexico.

“I can confirm the first-ever half-time show at a FIFA World Cup final in New York/New Jersey, in association with Global Citizen,” Infantino wrote on his personal Instagram.

“This will be a historic moment for the World Cup and a show befitting the biggest sporting event in the world.”

[Daily Post]

The Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RISIEC) has fixed August 9, 2025 to hold fresh local government elections following the Supreme Court’s judgement that sacked the local government chairmen and councilors.

The Chairman of RSIEC, Justice Adolphus Enebeli (retd.), released the new date on Wednesday during a stakeholders’ meeting in Port Harcourt.

Enebeli said the decision was in line with the last Friday’s Supreme Court judgment, which nullified the October 5, 2024, local government elections conducted by his commission.

He said: “In exercise of the powers conferred on the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission by Section 5 of the RSIEC Law No. 2 of 2018, and all other enabling provisions, the commission hereby provides guidelines for political parties, stipulating rules and procedures for electioneering campaigns.

“The commission, therefore, announces that local government council elections will hold on Saturday, August 9, 2025, in all 23 local government areas of Rivers state.”

[TheNation]

The lawmaker representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, failed to appear before the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions on Wednesday, which is investigating her conduct during last week’s plenary session.

The female lawmaker had previously engaged in a heated exchange with Senate President Godswill Akpabio over seat allocation.

Akpoti-Uduaghan also accused Akpabio of publicly humiliating her and obstructing her motions and bills on the Senate floor.

Her refusal to accept the new seating arrangement led to the Senate President denying her the opportunity to speak during the session.
In response, the Senate referred the matter to its Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions.

At the committee meeting, the Chairman, Senator Neda Imasuen (PDP, Edo South), expressed disappointment over Akpoti-Uduaghan’s absence, stating, “Senator Natasha was duly invited to this meeting. We hope she will join us as we continue.”

As of the time of filing this report, the Kogi lawmaker had yet to arrive for the hearing.

Details later…

[Punch]

• AAVE gains nearly 8% on Wednesday as crypto traders digest Bitcoin’s return above $87,000 after the flash crash. 
• Crypto market capitalization is back above $2.9 trillion, even as institutional traders slowly lose appetite for risk assets. 
• Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP lag and observe a slow recovery from Monday’s market crash. 

Aave (AAVE), the native token of the Aave lending protocol, is rallying on Wednesday as the crypto market recovers from Monday’s bloodbath. Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and XRP note small gains on the day as traders maintain a risk-averse stance in crypto, grappling with volatility concerns this week ahead of the White House Crypto Summit on Friday. 

While the crypto community prepares for the first White House Crypto Summit of its kind, enthusiasm among traders is capped. The crypto Fear & Greed Index on alternative.io shows that traders remain fearful as the indicator reads 20 on a scale from 0 to 100. 

AAVE yields nearly 8% gains for traders on the day, while the top 3 cryptocurrencies, BTC, ETH, and XRP, lag behind at the time of writing. 

Why AAVE is rallying?

AAVE recently deployed its lending markets on Sonic, a blockchain that evolved from Fantom. This marked the DeFi lending platform’s first Layer 1 expansion in 2025, part of the project’s roadmap. 

AAVE’s version 3 was deployed following the approval of the governance proposal, and the launch on Sonic Labs was followed by a gain of $33 million in total value locked (TVL) within 24 hours. 

Data from Lookonchain, an on-chain intelligence tracker, shows that large wallet investors like izebel.eth(@izebel_eth) purchased AAVE tokens worth $4.25 million on Wednesday. 

Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP post 1.21%, 3.15%, and 1.85% gains, respectively, on the day. The addition of XRP to the US Crypto Strategic Reserve raised concerns among traders across X, sparking debates over the relevance of the altcoin. However, the token is holding its seven-day gains of nearly 8% and continues to recover slowly. 

Ethereum hovers around the $2,100 level, and Bitcoin is inching close to resistance at the $90,000 level on Wednesday. 

AAVE eyes double-digit rally

AAVE’s Relative Strength Index (RSI) key momentum indicator in the daily chart is sloping upwards and reads 47, close to the neutral level of 50. Meanwhile, the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) shows a bullish crossover, suggesting there is underlying positive momentum in AAVE’s price trend, albeit relatively small compared to the last week of February. 

AAVE trades at $224 at the time of writing on Wednesday and steadily climbs towards the 10-day and 50-day Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs) at $251.77 and $254.04, respectively. A re-test of resistance at the 50-day EMA at $254.04 would mark over 13% gains in AAVE price. 

On the downside, the DeFi token could find support at the lower boundary of the Fair Value Gap (FVG) on the daily chart at $213. 

AAVE/USDT daily price chart 

Expert comments on crypto market recovery and impact of proposed tariffs

After the steep decline in crypto prices on Monday, crypto traders are digesting the impact of the pump and dump that followed US President Donald Trump’s strategic reserve announcement. Though Bitcoin rallied to its all-time high in January, the token recorded a 17.39% decline in February, the largest drop since 2014. 

While the market reels from over $1 billion in liquidations across derivatives exchanges, traders are fearful. 

Uldis Teraudklans, Chief Revenue Officer at Paybis, discussed the state of the market with FXStreet and what to expect. 

Teraudklans said, “Thus far this year, Bitcoin has proven more reactive to macroeconomic trends, including trade wars and interest rate trends. With large Wall Street firms now exposed to the coin, it is more susceptible to significant liquidity flows, thus contributing to its volatility. This [negative 17.39% monthly return in February] decline can be attributed to a loss of institutional appetite for risk assets, driven by the trade and tariff tensions initiated by the Trump administration. Bitcoin's correlation with the S&P 500 has further contributed to the decline. 

Bitcoin has never been a safe-haven asset—only an aspirational one. Yet, the promise remains, and with every cycle, critics revisit this so-called "failure." My perspective is that Bitcoin has consistently been a risk asset, following a long-term trajectory toward becoming a safe-haven, risk-off asset. This was true in previous cycles and remains true today.”

The expert says, “Only when Bitcoin reaches the market capitalization of gold can we seriously evaluate whether it can replace it as a safe-haven asset.”

[fxstreet]