Sonic(Sonic) Token Sell-off Surge Triggers Significant Price Plunge

**Sonic's Native Token S Faces Sharp Sell-Off After Wintermute Partnership Ends** Sonic's native cryptocurrency token, S, is experiencing significant downward pressure after the termination of a five-year partnership with market-making firm Wintermute. As reported by BeInCrypto on May 17, following the announcement on May 15, a wave of large-scale sell-offs hit the token, causing a sharp decline in its price. **Market Panic Unfolds with Large-Scale Sell-Offs** Data from Sonic ecosystem tracker Intel Scout shows Wintermute sold 1.5 million S tokens within just 24 hours post-announcement. Before this, Wintermute had already offloaded $857,000 worth of S tokens, exacerbating the downward trend. Intel Scout remarked that the sell-off wasn't entirely unexpected, coinciding with Sonic’s decision not to extend its exclusive market-making agreement with Wintermute. Sonic’s strategy lead assured the community that the company is in discussions with potential new partners. He highlighted that future market-making partners should align with Sonic's longer-term goals, expanding beyond centralized exchange liquidity to include decentralized finance (DeFi) integration. **Whale Wallet Movements Spark Speculation** Whale wallets holding substantial amounts of S tokens also showed significant activity, raising additional market concerns. Intel Scout found that a wallet linked to digital asset brokerage FalconX transferred 2.3 million of its 3 million recently acquired S tokens to Binance within the same 24-hour period as Wintermute's sell-off. This activity, coupled with similar movements from other whale wallets, has spurred speculation within the community. Intel Scout questioned whether these transactions were “mere liquidity reallocation, routine exchange routing, or price manipulation?” Some analysts have suggested that FalconX might be following a strategy of selling at highs and buying back at lower levels. However, Intel Scout dismissed this, noting that the recent sales occurred at a loss, making short-term profit-taking an unlikely motive. As a result of these consecutive large sell-offs, the price of S fell over 8% in one day, trading around $0.50. Over the past week, S has declined by over 15%, reflecting growing concerns about the token’s stability and broader implications for Sonic’s ecosystem.