Solana's Memecoin-Powered Revenue Plunges 90% as Market Turns Bloodbath

With the markets turning into a bloodbath, last year's unstoppable cryptocurrency, powered by memecoins, is now suffering its own bloodshed.

Last year saw the cryptocurrency markets turn into a bloodbath as the unstoppable cryptocurrency, powered by memecoins, is now suffering its own bloodshed.

According to reports, Solana's chain revenue has declined by more than 90% from its January highs, returning to levels last seen in September 2024.

Averaging a mere $4 million in weekly revenue over the last two weeks, its earnings pale in comparison to the $38.5 million per week at mid-January. However, despite these setbacks, Solana’s current revenue remains higher than in late summer 2024. Back then, weekly earnings dipped below $2 million between August and September.

The sharp decrease is a result of a significant reduction in transaction fees accrued on the network. Currently, Solana is generating around $8 million in fees per week, marking the lowest weekly fee period since September.

Total Value Locked (TVL) on Solana has also shrunk by nearly 50%, from over $12 billion in January to approximately $6.4 billion today.

This decline has been exacerbated by the collapse of several high-profile memecoins, including TRUMP, LIBRA, MELANIA, and ENRON. Memecoin trading, which largely takes place on the Pump.fun platform, accounted for roughly 80% of Solana’s revenues at its peak.

Pump.fun’s daily revenue has fallen 95%, from a high of $15 million in late January to as low as $107,000 this month.

After reaching a peak market capitalization of $137 billion in December, the memecoin sector has lost 68% of its value, now standing at $44 billion.

Broader market conditions have also played a role in the downturn. Bitcoin has decreased nearly 30% from its all-time high of $109,000, dipping below $80,000.

Solana's token, SOL, has also sustained a significant setback. Since attaining a record high of $295 on January 19, SOL has tumbled by 60%, now valued at around $120.

0xBreadGuy, a contributor to MegaEth, explained that traders were engrossed in the excitement of portfolio gains but neglected to consider the increasing sophistication of market manipulators in the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM) ecosystem.

"People were drunk on portfolio screenshots to the point that they ignored the maturation of the extractoor class on SVM-memes, but the illusion is gone after MELANIA/LIBRA, and with it went market appetite for risk," he stated.