Solana Memecoin Mania Returns as Protocols Notch Record Fees and Revenue

Solana-based apps notched record fees and revenue activity in the last 24 hours amid an apparent return of memecoin mania.

Solana-based applications saw record fees and revenue activity in the last 24 hours, amid an apparent return of memecoin mania.

According to a Nov. 18 X post from decentralized finance commentator Patrick Scott, who cited DefiLlama data, five out of the top ten protocols by fees in the last 24 hours were on Solana.

Five of the top 10 protocols by fees were on Solana on Nov. 17. Source: DefiLlama

Solana-based automatic market maker Raydium notched a record $11.31 million in fees on Nov. 17, while the liquid staking protocol Jito saw its third-highest day of fees at $9.87 million on the same day, per DefiLlama data.

Meanwhile, the memecoin launchpad pump.fun saw its seventh-highest day of earnings, netting $1.65 million in fees.

Photon, a Telegram trading bot for Solana memecoins, came in as the seventh highest earning product, generating its fifth highest day of fees on record at $2.36 million.

The record fees for several Solana protocols come amid a frenzy of speculation on memecoins and a major price move for the native Solana token SOL $242.18 itself, which pushed to $242 — its highest since November 2021.

A memecoin based on a squirrel called Peanut (PNUT) rallied over 2700% in the last fortnight to reach a peak value of $2.4 billion on Nov. 14, as Elon Musk shilled the token several times on X alongside the launch of the Department of Government Efficiency.

The largest Solana memecoin Dogwifhat WIF $3.62 was listed on the United States crypto exchange Coinbase on Nov. 15, sending it briefly to a new six-month high of $4.19 on the same day.

The Department of Government Efficiency is a new United States government agency under President-elect Donald Trump that bears the same abbreviated name as the ticker of the memecoin Dogecoin (DOGE), which also saw a significant rally over the last seven days — climbing more than 140% in the last two weeks.

Solana pushes above $240 despite supply inflation

SOL is currently trading at $234, a mere 8.5% move away from reclaiming its all-time high price of $259.

Notably, Solana is trading at a market capitalization of $112 billion, 44% higher than its $77 billion market cap at its previous all-time high on Nov. 6, 2021.

The increase in market cap comes from overall growth in the number of Solana tokens being issued as a part of its inflation schedule, which rewards stakers for their efforts with newly minted SOL tokens.

At the time of publication, Solana’s inflation rate is running at 4.9% and decreases at a rate of 15% per year, per SolanaCompass data.