NEW YORK, Dec 28 (Reuters) – The price of Solana, a cryptocurrency token that had been lauded by FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, fell 10.36% on Wednesday, and is down 94.2% so far in 2022.
The collapse of FTX has rippled across the industry, hobbling liquidity at firms with exposure to what was once one of the world's biggest crypto exchanges.
Solana , or SOL, is the token behind the upstart Solana blockchain, which supports smart contracts, including non-fungible tokens, and has emerged as a rival to the ethereum blockchain.
Bankman-Fried, who is expected to enter a plea next week to criminal charges he defrauded investors and looted billions of dollars in customer funds at FTX, frequently praised Solana. FTX and Alameda, Bankman-Fried's trading firm, held Solana tokens on their balance sheets.
While Solana has no direct relation to FTX, and had limited exposure to the failed exchange, its association with Bankman-Fried has been a drag.
"The general problem with crypto is that its lack of intrinsic value means that values are based on confidence and perceived utility. If those suffer in relation to a specific token, then it suffers," said Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers.
A representative for Solana was not immediately available for comment.
SOL has dropped 51.14% since the furor around FTX began unfolding on Nov. 2. In the same period, ether has fallen about 21.3% and bitcoin 17.6%.
The price of Serum, or SRM, the token for the decentralized exchange of the same name created by Bankman-Fried on the Solana blockchain, is down 80.5% since Nov. 2, trading at just over 14 cents, according to coinmarketcap.com.
The total market capitalization of the cryptocurrency market now stands at $798.4 billion, according to the website, down from a peak of over $3 trillion in Nov. 2021.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Bitcoin rose 5.58% to $21,044 at 2344 GMT on Saturday, adding $1,113 to its previous close.
Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world’s largest multimedia news provider, reaching billions of people worldwide every day. Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world's media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers.
Build the strongest argument relying on authoritative content, attorney-editor expertise, and industry defining technology.
The most comprehensive solution to manage all your complex and ever-expanding tax and compliance needs.
The industry leader for online information for tax, accounting and finance professionals.
Access unmatched financial data, news and content in a highly-customised workflow experience on desktop, web and mobile.
Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts.
Screen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks.
All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays.
© 2022 Reuters. All rights reserved
Solana crypto token loses most of its value in 2022, FTX collapse … – Reuters
