Orca DEX token slides 17% a day after the Loopscale merger news
Orca DEX ($ORCA) traded at $2.30 at 3:40 p.m. ET on Thursday, down 17.4% in 24 hours, a day after Orca and Loopscale said they will merge.
The quick take
- Price: $ORCA at $2.30, down 17.4% in 24 hours (CoinGecko, 3:40 p.m. ET).
- Trigger: The token hit $3.08 after the merger news, then gave the gain back.
- Watch: Formation’s first tools for asset issuers and the Loopscale points conversion.
What happened
The Orca DEX token slides back below where it traded before Wednesday’s merger news. Orca DEX ($ORCA) traded at $2.30 at 3:40 p.m. ET on Thursday, down 17.4% in 24 hours, according to CoinGecko.
Over the same 24 hours, the token swung between a high of $3.08 and a low of $2.26. Binance’s ORCA/USDT hourly prices put the peak in the first hours of Thursday UTC, soon after the deal was announced.
The drop trims a strong run. $ORCA is still up 37% over seven days and 63% over 30 days, CoinGecko data show.
Why it moved
The cause of Thursday’s selling is not confirmed. It followed late Wednesday’s news that Orca and the lending platform Loopscale will merge into Formation, a New York company, as The Block and Decrypt reported. Loopscale co-founder Luke Truitt becomes chief executive, and financial terms were not disclosed.
Decrypt reported that $ORCA will be the token for all of Formation and that Loopscale will not launch its own token. Loopscale points keep building up and will convert later this year, Decrypt said.
The wider market was weak too. Solana ($SOL) fell 5.7% in 24 hours on CoinGecko, while Bitcoin ($BTC) slipped 2.0%, according to LiveCoinWatch.
Who’s buying and selling
Trading stayed heavy. CoinGecko counted $59.2 million in 24-hour volume, against a market value of $140.7 million.
In the token’s largest pool, ORCA/SOL on Orca, sellers made 17,021 trades against 16,251 buys over 24 hours, DexScreener shows. That pool held $1.56 million in liquidity. Orca DEX itself led Solana’s decentralized exchanges with $295 million in 24-hour trading volume, according to DefiLlama.
What to watch next
Formation plans to roll out tools for asset issuers over the next 12 months, both outlets reported. The companies say Orca has handled more than $550 billion in trades since 2021, and Loopscale holds over $150 million in deposits. Holders will also look for details on how Loopscale points convert.
Bottom line: $ORCA has handed back its merger-night jump, though it keeps a large gain for the month.
Price data: CoinGecko.
Sources
- CoinGecko: Orca (ORCA) price, 24-hour range, 7-day and 30-day change (19:40 UTC, Oct 8)
- The Block: Solana’s Orca merges with Loopscale in push to finance AI, robotics and defense
- Decrypt: Solana DeFi firms Orca and Loopscale merge under new Formation brand
- DexScreener: ORCA/SOL pool on Orca
- DefiLlama: Solana DEX volume
- Binance: ORCA/USDT hourly prices
- LiveCoinWatch: Bitcoin price
Not financial advice.
