Discord and Data Questions Cloud Solana’s Landscape

While technical development continues, the Solana ecosystem is currently preoccupied with conflicts over narrative control and data reliability. These tensions were sparked by a public dispute involving the Hyperliquid trading platform and fueled by an unexpected critic: Kyle Samani, a figure long associated with Solana's growth. Compounding this is a separate, open debate about which decentralized exchange (DEX) metrics investors can actually trust.

Beyond the personnel drama, many market participants are monitoring institutional activity. U.S. spot Solana ETFs reported outflows of $12 million last Friday.

From a technical analysis perspective, commentators are noting potential "head-and-shoulders" formations appearing on price charts. A notable discrepancy exists between on-chain activity and market sentiment. Transaction counts are reported to have surged to over 2.6 billion in 30 days. Despite this robust network usage, market mood remains cautious because this dynamic is not clearly reflected in the price action. Solana's price currently stands at $84.01, marking a significant decline over the past month.

The Samani-Hyperliquid Dispute and On-Chain Clues

On February 8, Kyle Samani launched a public critique against the Hyperliquid protocol and its founder, Jeff Yan, labeling the project as emblematic of "everything wrong with crypto." The timing is notable: his departure from Multicoin Capital had been announced just three days prior, on February 5.

However, the situation appears less clear-cut when examining on-chain data. Wallets associated with Multicoin are reported to have purchased HYPE tokens worth more than $40 million in late January. This conflict underscores a key development: the competition for high-performance trading infrastructure is intensifying—a domain where Solana has been considered a strong foundation.

Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Solana?

The "Perp DEX Data War": A Question of Trust

Data provider Coinglass recently ignited a debate, quickly dubbed the "Perp DEX data war." At its core, the controversy questions which platforms genuinely have substantial activity and where volume statistics might present a distorted picture.

Coinglass compared 24-hour volume against open interest, revealing the following figures:

• Hyperliquid: $3.76 billion volume, $4.05 billion open interest
• Aster: $2.76 billion volume, but significantly lower open interest ($927 million)
• Lighter: $1.81 billion volume, $731 million open interest

Coinglass's interpretation suggested that Hyperliquid's volume and open interest appeared more consistent. In contrast, questions were raised about the "quality" of the reported volume for Aster and Lighter. For Solana investors, this is more than a numbers game—DEX and derivatives data are crucial for assessing a network's real economic throughput.

In the coming days, focus is likely to center on three specific areas: whether the ETF outflows stabilize or increase, if other data providers will validate the DEX volume figures, and whether the personnel and communication shifts around Multicoin visibly alter venture capital positioning within the Solana ecosystem.