Key takeaways:Solana perpetual futures funding rates flipped negative, signaling excess demand for bearish positions.Rival networks like Base and Hyperliquid pose direct threats to Solana by aggressively capturing DEX market volume.Solana’s native token SOL (SOL) faced a 15% correction following a rejection at $98 on May 11. A retest of the $83 level on Tuesday was followed by negative futures funding rates, indicating increased demand for short SOL positions. While declining network activity contributed to the price drop, competition among rival blockchain networks has picked up. SOL perpetual futures annualized funding rate. Source: LaevitasThe SOL perpetual futures funding rate stood at -3% on Tuesday, down considerably from the +8% on Saturday. During neutral market conditions, this indicator hovers near +9% to account for the cost of capital and exchange risk. Demand for bullish leverage has been largely absent since Saturday, when SOL price slipped below $90.Solana DEX activity has declined by 56% since JanuaryDeclining activity on Solana’s decentralized exchanges (DEXs) has reduced ecosystem revenue and demand for SOL. This reduced appetite for decentralized applications (DApps) was not exclusive to Solana, but growing competition poses a major threat, as investors fear that demand for memecoins has faded for good.Solana weekly DEX volumes, DApps revenue, USD. Source: DefiLlamaSolana DApp revenue stabilized near $20 million per week, down from an average of $35 million in January. This movement closely mirrors the network’s DEX activity trend, which currently stands at $11 billion per week, compared to January’s average of $25 billion. The 30-day DApp revenue leaders on Solana are Pump, Axiom Pro, Phantom, and Jupiter, which command a combined 65% market share.Blockchain ranked by weekly DApps revenue market share. Source: DefiLlamaSolana remained the top blockchain for DApp revenue despite intensifying competition. Hyperliquid created a direct threat due to its dominance in perpetual contracts, offering a high-throughput solution with core trading features built directly into the consensus layer. Meanwhile, the Ethereum layer-2 network Base offered seamless integration into the Coinbase ecosystem.In terms of total value locked (TVL), Solana secured second place with $5.9 billion, followed by BNB Chain at $5.5 billion and Base at $4.5 billion. DEX platforms and staking DApps like Jupiter, Kamino, Sanctum, and Raydium lead Solana’s TVL. Still, no blockchain threatens Ethereum’s $43.2 billion TVL, which relies heavily on collateralized lending and liquid staking.Potential spoofing activity on Solana network DAppsSolana’s footprint in the DApp industry cannot be understated, but the network’s low fees offer a perfect opportunity for maximal extractable value (MEV) botting and inflated activity.Related: Goldman Sachs exits XRP, Solana ETF exposure in Q1 2026Source: X/lukecannon727X user lukecannon727 noted that 1,600 addresses were reportedly responsible for nearly 63% of volumes on PreStocks, a synthetic asset trading platform that runs on the Solana network. According to the analysis, those entities presented balanced trading activity, high execution frequency, and small net losses. These findings are highly consistent with arbitrage activity, but they could also indicate volume spoofing.  Recent weakness in SOL prices can be partially attributed to the broader decline in DApp demand and increased competition, especially from Hyperliquid and Base. An eventual bull run seems highly dependent on a pickup in DEX activity, particularly in memecoin trading. But, at the same time, there is no indication that SOL should retest the $78 level last seen in early April.

Bitcoin (BTC) traders have shifted their focus lower after futures and order book data point to strong buyer interest in the $68,000-$70,000 zone.Sell pressure has increased in the derivatives markets and the daily bid-ask ratio fell to -0.03, showing sellers are currently more aggressive than buyers as traders position around liquidation levels.Bitcoin buyers cluster near $68,000The visible range volume profile (VRVP) indicator shows the $68,000-$70,000 region as the most densely traded zone on the chart since November 2025. High trading activity in that price range suggests most positions were opened near those levels over the past few months.The order book data also shows a bid-ask ratio of -0.03, with the metric remaining in negative territory for most of the past month as sell-side activity continued to outweigh aggressive buying pressure. BTC/USDT price, bid-ask ratio and VPVR profile. Source: HyblockLiquidation data adds another pressure point. The heatmap shows more than $3.4 billion in cumulative long positions exposed near $74,700. The figure rises toward $11 billion if Bitcoin falls to $70,000 across the 90-day liquidation range.Taken together, the positioning data suggests traders are prioritizing deeper liquidity pools rather than chasing higher prices above $80,000.Bitcoin exchange liquidation map. Source: CoinGlassRelated: Bitcoin price stays under $77K as US bond yields near 20-year highsBTC retail longs are crowdedCrypto analytics platform Hyblock noted Bitcoin retail traders are again leaning heavily bullish as its “True Retail Accounts” long percentage metric climbed above 60%. The indicator tracks the share of retail futures accounts holding long positions.BTC/USDT, one-day chart. Source: Hyblock/XPrevious spikes into the platform’s “extreme long” zone aligned with short-term local tops during rallies toward the $78,000-$82,000 range in early May. The price momentum later cooled after retail positioning became too crowded.Hyblock explained that the strongest recovery points appeared when retail traders turned aggressively bearish. Several periods when fewer than 35% of retail accounts held long positions emerged near Bitcoin’s lows in March and April, before BTC rebounded from the mid-$60,000 range.Hyblock combines the retail positioning metric with a 14-period relative strength index (RSI) reading to identify sentiment extremes for BTC.The latest reading shows the TRA Long (%) near 60.7%, while the RSI stayed elevated at 74.9, suggesting retail traders are still positioned for prices near $76,000. This could lead to deeper correction if BTC follows its previous market behavior. Related: Bitcoin miner Canaan posts $88.7M net loss in Q1 amid BTC decline