The cryptocurrency market has seen its fair share of ups and downs. The 2021 bull run saw one of the biggest climbs in crypto history, with Bitcoin (BTC) climbing to a peak of about $68,000. Most other assets followed BTC’s trajectory, hitting new peaks. Solana (SOL) also saw a massive breakout, climbing to nearly $260 in November 2021. However, the FTX collapse of 2022 shook the crypto market. We saw massive liquidations, with Bitcoin (BTC) falling to the $15,000 level, and Solana (SOL) dipping to the $9 mark in late 2022, according to CoinGecko data. While many thought it was the end of the road for SOL, the asset delivered one of the most significant comebacks in finance history. Let’s discuss how it happened.

Why Did Solana Collapse To $9 In 2022?

Solana (SOL) took a big hit after the collapse of FTX due to the exchange’s big SOL holdings. FTX was quite bullish on SOL, and held about 55.8 million SOL tokens, valued at around $1.16 billion, at the time of its bankruptcy. The figure represented about 10% of SOL’s entire circulating supply, and made up of a majority of FTX’s holdings. FTX began to sell a large portion of its holdings to repay creditors, and as a result, SOL’s price tanked.

Not only did Solana’s (SOL) price see its most significant dip, the network also saw an exodus of developers. Investor sentiment around the project plummeted, and the project’s future was put into question.

How Did The Project Rebound?

Despite its massive crash, Solana (SOL) emerged as a top blockchain among users. The SOL network could handle large transaction volumes, which attracted users and developers. Additional developments, such as a high-performance layer-1 led to further confidence among investors.

Solana (SOL) also became a popular blockchain to launch memecoins. Pepe (PEPE), Bonk (BONK), etc., saw substantial interest within the crypto community. Pro-crypto legislation in the US also helped propel SOL’s price.

Solana (SOL) went on to hit a new all-time high of $293 in January 2025. The project’s incredible comeback has garnered it the title of being “one of the most resilient cryptocurrencies” in the market.