Solana (SOL) has been experiencing a significant downward trend, with the asset retracing heavily over the past month. Since its all-time high of $293 on January 19, SOL has declined by 40%, and the trend appears to be ongoing as the hype around meme coins diminishes. SOL has dropped an additional 8% in a single day, marking its first dip below $170 since early November.
The recent surge in Solana’s popularity and usage was primarily due to meme coin minting and speculation, which has now started to decline. Enthusiasts flocked to the low-cost blockchain to mint and promote meme coins on platforms like Pump.fun. Most of these tokens lack utility and were part of pump-and-dump schemes.
“It’s over for Solana,” lamented crypto trader ‘Xremlin,’ who likened the situation to being worse than the FTX collapse. The trader pointed fingers at the MELANIA token, launched shortly after TRUMP, and LIBRA, a token allegedly promoted by Argentina’s president Javier Milei, though he has denied any involvement. Insider trading led to pump and dumps that liquidated retail traders, contributing to Solana’s downfall.
“This past month showcased the issues within Solana’s meme scene. Insiders are profiting while everyone else loses. Today, the SOL price began to reflect this reality,” remarked the analyst.
Meanwhile, crypto investor “Ash Crypto” commented that the real reason behind the decline of Solana meme coins has been revealed. Insiders have been exploiting these meme coin launches and offloading to retail investors. “Insiders have extracted over $200 million from these Solana launches so far,” he noted. According to another post, Solana and SOL memes are plummeting because people are realizing that the entire setup was a wealth transfer scheme from crypto speculators to project insiders.
Others shared startling statistics regarding the amounts extracted from Solana meme coins:
– Trading bots & apps: $1.09 billion
– Pump.fun: $492 million
– MEV (Miner Extractable Value): $1.5-2 billion
– Trump insiders: $0.5-1 billion
– Other insiders: unknown
– AMMs (Automated Market Makers): $0-2 billion
– Total: $3.6-6.6+ billion
In a surprising turn, Ethereum (ETH) made a move, seemingly in response to Solana’s decline, with its prices reaching a 12-day high of $2,830. However, market dynamics forced ETH to fall back below $2,700 during trading in Asia. The total market cap has decreased by 3% to $3.27 trillion, with SOL being the largest loser among the top 40 crypto assets, followed closely by Solana-based meme coins.
Twitter:
It’s over for Solana. Worse than the FTX collapse. #MELANIA and $LIBRA changed everything. Insiders have taken over $200 million from Solana launches. Total extracted from memes on Solana: $3.6-6.6+ billion. #Crypto #Solana #Ethereum
