Sonic token price dropped 10% on May 15 after Wintermute sold about $857,000 worth of S tokens. The transaction followed the end of the five-year Wintermute Sonic partnership. Sonic disclosed the partnership termination shortly after the large transfer.
According to Intel Scout, Wintermute offloaded nearly 3 million S tokens within 24 hours. The Sonic token drop began immediately, causing visible losses in market value. Sonic confirmed the sale and said Wintermute sold the tokens to repay a loan.
The project stated that the transaction was not unusual. It emphasized that the Sonic token movement was not due to any foul play. Still, the Sonic sell-off affected price sentiment and market activity.
Sonic Ends Wintermute Partnership After Five Years
Meanwhile, Sonic confirmed that it officially ended its five-year partnership with Wintermute. The announcement followed Intel Scout’s post linking Wintermute to a large Sonic token dump.
The Wintermute Sonic partnership involved liquidity support on centralized exchanges. But Sonic now seeks a new market maker. Its Head of Strategy said,
“CEX-only support is simply no longer enough.”
The team wants a Sonic market maker to support the project’s DeFi applications and developers.
Sonic’s internal shift marks a change in direction. It is now engaging with candidates that offer broader DeFi coverage beyond traditional exchange support.
Sonic Token Dump Linked to Whale Activity
Intel Scout said other whales sold S tokens during the same 24-hour window. These combined actions added pressure to the Sonic token price. Sonic did not identify the other sellers or give additional numbers.
The S token moved lower throughout the day, in line with the reported timeline of the Wintermute sale. The market responded to the token movement with increased trading volume.
Sonic acknowledged the activity but focused on Wintermute’s repayment of a loan. No official comment was made on the other whales.
This was not the first case involving a Wintermute token dump. In January 2025, Wintermute faced scrutiny after $20 million in transactions linked to Binance raised concerns. No regulatory action followed, but the trades drew attention online.
In April, Wintermute sold tokens from the ACT project. That Sonic token dump caused ACT’s price to fall 50%, leading to backlash from its community. The firm did not issue a statement at the time.
The Sonic token sale on May 15 did not trigger similar public reactions. Sonic said the S token dump was to return loaned funds and did not criticize Wintermute. Wintermute has not commented.
Sonic Token Still Maintains $1B TVL Despite Drop
Sonic launched its S token in January 2025. The Sonic token reached $1 billion in total value locked (TVL) in just 66 days. The protocol also ran an airdrop campaign on Binance to widen its user base.
Despite the 6% drop in Sonic token price, the platform continues to operate as planned. Sonic said it is in talks with several candidates to replace Wintermute as the primary Sonic market maker. The goal is to find a partner with stronger integration in DeFi.
The token dump by Wintermute marked the end of a long-term relationship. Sonic now adjusts its approach to managing token circulation and market participation.
Sonic Forms Bearish Flag Pattern With 35% Breakdown Target Near $0.192
As of May 16, 2025, the SONICUSDT chart on Bybit shows the formation of a bearish flag pattern. This pattern occurs when the price consolidates in an upward-sloping channel after a sharp drop. It usually signals a continuation of the prior downtrend if confirmed.
On the chart, Sonic token moved inside a rising channel from early April to mid-May, following a sharp drop in March. The token touched highs near $0.34 before starting to decline again. The price is now testing the lower boundary of the rising flag channel.
At the same time, Sonic token trades near the 50-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA), which is around $0.28445. The Relative Strength Index (RSI), a momentum indicator, stands at 52.11, showing neutral strength, while its recent peak at 57.74 suggests weakening momentum.
If the bearish flag confirms with a breakdown below the lower channel and EMA support, the Sonic token could fall by 35%, matching the height of the flagpole before the consolidation. That move would bring the target price down to around $0.19282.
Trading volume remains moderate at 4.16 million, and a surge in volume during the breakdown could signal confirmation of the pattern. The blue arrows on the chart indicate the potential move direction.
This technical setup remains valid as long as Sonic token stays below the resistance line of the flag and closes under the 50-day EMA.
