Crypto analyst Ali Martinez set off a fresh round of attention on Monday when he tweeted, “Solana $SOL must reclaim $144.63 to avoid a pullback toward $131.53.” The message landed amid a muted rally for SOL, which has been trading in a tight range after a December rebound. On Monday, the token was changing hands around $139–$140, roughly where it has hovered this week.
Traders read Martinez’s line as a blunt technical roadmap. The $144.63 area sits just above recent daily highs and represents a level where buyers would need to show follow-through to keep the short-term uptrend intact. Failure to clear and hold that zone, many chart-watchers warn, could invite profit-taking that drags price back to the $131 region, a support level that showed multiple intraday bounces in January. Experts point to a compression of volatility: Solana’s price action has been squeezed between firm support and a local resistance band, making the next directional move dependent on whether demand returns above the mid-$140s.
Beyond the chart, the narrative around Solana has been brightened by a spate of institutional developments that give bulls a hope of sustained flows. Major financial players have recently signaled interest in Solana exposure. In early January, Morgan Stanley filed paperwork seeking to launch both bitcoin and Solana-linked exchange-traded funds, a step that would widen regulated access to SOL for wealth clients if approved. That institutional tailwind, coupled with earlier moves such as the introduction of regulated derivatives for the token, has been cited by analysts as a structural positive for sentiment.
Technical forecasters are split on timing. Some short-term strategists see a clean path to $146–150 should SOL clear the $144–145 hurdle, arguing that several indicators are neutral-to-bullish and that market depth near $140 could fuel a momentum push. Others caution that if SOL fails at resistance and macro conditions worsen, the more conservative scenario plays out: a pullback to the $125–$132 band, where buyers previously stepped in to defend the market. On-chain signals and ETF flows will likely be the tiebreaker; fund inflows into SOL product wrappers have been visible in recent weeks and would matter more if they continue.
For everyday traders, the message is pragmatic: watch the $144.63 level. Reclaiming it with conviction would keep the recovery thesis alive; rejection could make Martinez’s downside call to $131.53 the next realistic target. As ever with crypto, risk management and position sizing remain crucial. Solana’s technology narrative and institutional interest have improved its prospects, but price waits for real-world buyers to either confirm or deny the bullish case.


