Deep Dive
1. Token Unlock Pressure (Bearish Impact)
Overview:
$17.33M LAYER tokens were unlocked this week (11–18 August 2025), part of a broader $653M altcoin unlock wave (Coinpedia). Unlocks expand circulating supply by ~6% for Solayer, historically correlating with price declines.
What this means:
Increased supply without proportional demand growth risks diluting token value. Past unlocks (e.g., May 2025’s $32M unlock) saw LAYER drop 18% post-event. Market participants often preemptively sell ahead of unlocks to avoid dilution.
What to look out for:
Next unlock schedule – 210M LAYER (21% of supply) remains locked, with $21M set for release in September 2025.
2. Technical Breakdown (Bearish Momentum)
Overview:
LAYER trades at $0.556, below its 7-day SMA ($0.587) and 30-day SMA ($0.637). RSI-14 at 38.57 signals bearish momentum but not yet oversold. MACD histogram (-0.0045) confirms downward acceleration.
What this means:
The break below $0.58 (August 18 support) triggered stop-losses, exacerbating selling. Fibonacci retracement shows next support at $0.544 (swing low), with resistance at $0.657 (38.2% level).
What to look out for:
A sustained close above $0.58 could signal short-term relief; failure risks a retest of $0.50.
3. Altcoin Sentiment Shift (Mixed Impact)
Overview:
Bitcoin dominance rose to 58.7% (up 0.6% in 24h), while the Altcoin Season Index fell 23.6% monthly. Traders are rotating into BTC amid rising open interest ($985B, +6.6% 24h) and neutral market sentiment.
What this means:
Mid-cap alts like LAYER face headwinds as liquidity tightens. Solayer’s 24h volume ($21.5M) fell 7.5% vs. the market, indicating fading speculative interest.
Conclusion
Solayer’s dip reflects a mix of tokenomics (unlocks), technical breakdowns, and sector-wide altcoin weakness. While its modular rollup ecosystem and Binance partnerships (August 16 article) offer long-term potential, near-term risks dominate.
Key watch: Can LAYER hold $0.544 support, or will September’s unlock schedule trigger another leg down? Monitor Bitcoin’s $58.7K dominance level for altcoin sentiment cues.