TRUMP Memecoin Frenzy Takes Solana (SOL) to New Heights as Coinbase CEO Announces Backlog Problem Resolved

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong announced that the Solana backlog problem that caused pending transaction times of up to 21 hours on the centralized exchange has been resolved.

Coinbase CEO Announces Resolution to Solana Backlog, Prompting Retries for Canceled Transactions

Coinbase users encountered a setback on Jan. 22 as the Solana (SOL) backlog issue caused pending transaction times of up to 21 hours on the centralized exchange.

However, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has now announced that the problem has been resolved.

In a X post on Jan. 22, Armstrong highlighted the congestion on Solana, which was sparked by the Donald Trump memecoin mania.

As traders rushed to purchase the US president’s official memecoin, Official Trump (TRUMP), the Solana network experienced a surge in activity.

According to the Coinbase CEO, users attempting to cancel their transactions encountered difficulties due to the backlog, which prompted traders to retry posting their transactions.

Armstrong concluded his post by apologizing to Coinbase users for the inconvenience caused by the Solana backlog.

Solana network grinds to a halt, sparking criticism and praise

The launch of the TRUMP memecoin also led to a separate Solana network outage on Jan. 20, which sparked both criticism and praise for the high-throughput blockchain.

As demand for the memecoin surged, the Solana network struggled to keep up, highlighting the challenges faced by even the fastest blockchains when it comes to handling massive volumes of transactions.

TRUMP memecoin launches, driving up SOL price and network fees

The launch of TRUMP corresponded with a surge in demand for SOL, which hit a new all-time high of $293 on Jan. 19.

According to DefiLlama, Solana’s total value locked also soared to $13.9 billion following the launch of the TRUMP token.

Solana network fees also experienced a surge during the memecoin hype, with transaction fees climbing to approximately $17.8 million on Jan. 19 and recording a healthy $11.7 million on Jan. 21.

For comparison, Solana network fees ranged between roughly $2.7 million and $5.25 million per day during December 2024.

Solana market cap tops $127B as Google searches for ‘buy Solana’ hit 100

Data from CoinMarketCap showed that SOL’s market capitalization also grew to approximately $127 billion amid the price rally.

Furthermore, Google search volumes for crypto-related terms soared, including “buy Solana.”

On a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 representing the highest search volume, “buy Solana” hit 100 the week of Jan. 19.

Other search terms that reached peak levels on Google Trends included “buy crypto,” “Coinbase,” and “crypto app.”

These online search volumes and app store rankings are used by some traders to gauge market interest and signal whether or not retail investors are entering the game.

At the time of this writing, crypto trading applications now command the top three slots in the finance category on Apple’s App Store.

Crypto.com currently ranks as number one, with Coinbase coming in at number two and memecoin trading platform Moonshot at number three.