Key takeaways:

Solana’s bull flag pattern projects a rally to $260, but low spot buy volumes have analysts advising caution.

After briefly dropping to $160 from $184, Solana (SOL) is attempting to reclaim a position above its key resistance at $180 for a second consecutive week. With Bitcoin (BTC) hitting an all-time high, market speculators are banking on eventual capital rotation, which could pump major altcoins like SOL toward new highs.

Solana shows promising signs on the daily chart, forming a textbook bull flag pattern after a strong uptrend. While SOL prices currently trade under $180, a breakout above this level could propel SOL toward its first target at $200, with further upside potential to $220 if momentum sustains.

Solana 1-day chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

The trend remains bullish, supported by the relative strength index (RSI) at 64.30, indicating healthy momentum without overbought conditions. However, SOL needs a clear market structure break (MSB) or a decisive bullish breakout above $180 to trigger the next leg of the rally. 

Declining volumes during the consolidation phase suggest caution, as a lack of buying pressure could stall the breakout. 

If SOL fails to breach $180, the immediate key area of interest is between $140-150, and the bull flag pattern would be invalidated. The support range is a daily order block, which should provide higher time frame (HTF) support in case of a price correction. 

Related: Bitcoin could go much higher due to lack of FOMO and futures market euphoria — Analysts

Solana price fractal aims for $260

Crypto trader Robert Mercer shared a chart identifying a price fractal pattern similar to October 2024. Mercer emphasized two critical zones: one around late 2024, where SOL broke past $180 after consolidation, and a current zone mirroring that setup. He predicts a breakout above $180 could trigger a sharp upward rally, mirroring the late 2024 rally that saw $SOL peak near $260.

Solana price fractal analysis. Source: X.com

Likewise, technical analyst Javon Marks identified a hidden bullish divergence on Solana’s 3-day chart, a pattern that previously triggered a 1,332% surge in 2024. Marks suggested that if this pattern breaks out again in 2025, Solana could reach a price target of $450.

Popular crypto trader XO also remained on the lookout for a long opportunity, but suggested waiting to see if Solana could flip the $180 level into support.

Solana analysis by XO. Source: X.com

Related: BTC price eyes $112K as risk assets ‘ignore bad news’ on unemployment

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

OpenAI is planning to develop AI “companion” devices that will integrate artificial intelligence capabilities with everyday life, potentially opening the door to a new high-tech innovation used alongside laptops and smartphones.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said he and designer Jony Ive are developing these secret devices for mass consumption, with plans to ship 100 million units upon launch.

Ives joined OpenAI after his startup, io, was acquired by Altman’s company in a $6.5 billion deal, the Journal reported on May 21. 

Neither Altman nor Ives specified what these companion devices would look like or how they would operate. Ives simply referred to them as a “new design movement” that would be similar to Apple’s family of hardware and software integrations. 

OpenAI has raised billions of dollars from investors, who view the company as a stalwart in the AI industry following the overwhelming success of its ChatGPT large language model (LLM). As of May, ChatGPT had nearly 800 million weekly active users, according to industry data. 

These usage trends were behind OpenAI’s massive $157 billion valuation as of October 2024 — a figure that nearly doubled to $300 billion by March 2025.

ChatGPT usage trends. Source: DemandSage

Related: Microsoft and OpenAI renegotiate investment deal: Report

Not the first “secret” project

In addition to its secretive companion devices, OpenAI’s ambitions extend to social media, where the company plans to take on Elon Musk’s X and Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta platforms, according to an April 15 report by The Verge. 

The new social media platform will reportedly combine ChatGPT’s image generation capabilities with a social media feed similar to X’s. It’s unclear whether the new social media platform would launch as a standalone product or be incorporated into ChatGPT.

The blend between AI and social media has also bled into the blockchain industry, with several startups utilizing these technologies to build AI agents, LLM tools and decentralized social media networks.

As Cointelegraph reported, Validation Cloud recently deployed an LLM on the Hedera network, giving decentralized finance users the ability to query blockchain data more easily. 

Related: OpenAI’s Altman appears to reject Musk’s $97.4B bid for control

Crypto exchange Kraken is planning to offer non-US customers the option of trading tokenized US stocks, part of the company’s push to offer more traditional assets via tokenization.

The products will be offered through Backed, a new Kraken partner, according to a statement shared with Cointelegraph. Tokens representing the stocks will be stored on the Solana blockchain due to its “unmatched performance, low latency and thriving global ecosystem,” the statement said.

“The whole point of crypto is that we’re able to see things very transparently,” Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi said during Solana’s Accelerate event on May 22. ”It’s decentralized. It is open-source. You can innovate as quickly as possible, and there’s no reason why companies like us can’t morph to do that.”

The decision to incorporate more traditional investment options may indicate a shift by Kraken to compete less with crypto-native exchanges like Coinbase and more with larger brokerages like Robinhood, which provide a wide range of investment options.

Arjun Sethi on screen at Solana’s Accelerate event in New York City. Source: Cointelegraph

On April 14, Kraken opened access to exchange-traded funds and stock trading to US clients based in New Jersey, Connecticut, Wyoming, Oklahoma, Idaho, Iowa, Rhode Island, Kentucky, Alabama and the District of Columbia.

In 2021, cryptocurrency exchange Binance launched a similar initiative but ultimately canceled it due to issues with regulatory agencies in various countries worldwide.

According to Sethi, Kraken is building “a set of microservices” to scale out its products to customers.

Related: Crypto exchange Kraken exploring $1B raise ahead of IPO: Report 

Kraken’s tokenization move

Real-world assets (RWA) tokenization has been a central topic in crypto over the past few months. The sector’s market capitalization has climbed from $15.9 billion on Jan. 3 to $22.7 billion on May 20, representing a 42.8% jump in the period.

Tokenized private credit and US Treasurys are dominant assets in the market, while stocks account only for $373.4 million.

Robinhood is also moving to offer tokenized stocks. According to a recent announcement, the brokerage is working on a blockchain for tokenized securities that will offer European investors exposure to US-listed companies.

RWA tokenization is gaining traction among brokerages, exchanges, and firms due to several key advantages. It reduces upfront costs by minimizing reliance on traditional financial infrastructure. Additionally, tokenization helps democratize access to investment opportunities, enabling retail investors to participate in markets that were previously limited to accredited investors.

Magazine: TradFi is building Ethereum L2s to tokenize trillions in RWAs — Inside story