Week in Meme Coins: Market Drops 28%, Elon's Dad Apes In!

Pump(.)fun faces new lawsuit!Elon's dad plans $200M raise!Ulbricht wallets lose $12M!Let's unpack this chaotic week in memes

The meme coin market experienced a tumultuous week, marked by a sharp 28% drop, bringing the total market capitalization down to $72.3 billion. This downturn was driven by a combination of liquidations and legal issues, leaving many investors questioning the future of meme-based cryptocurrencies.

However, amidst the overall decline, certain tokens managed to stand out, showing resilience against the market slide. Here's a closer look at the key events of the week, including legal troubles, new tokens, platform innovations, and other factors that are reshaping the meme coin market.

Meme Coin Market Cap Drops by 28%

This week's meme coin market crash was nothing short of dramatic, with the sector losing approximately 28% of its total value. The market capitalization now stands at $72.3 billion, a significant drop from last week's figures. This plummet was marked by massive liquidations, with estimates suggesting that between $2 billion and $8 billion worth of positions were liquidated across meme coin projects.

In contrast to this downward trend, one token, FU, managed to maintain its value and defy the broader market sentiment. Other tokens in the meme coin space weren't as lucky during this deep correction the market went through. This market correction really reflects the more volatile side of cryptocurrency.

Legal Troubles for Pump(.)fun and a New $200M Raise

Pump(.)fun, a meme coin that has caught the eye of many, is now dealing with a securities lawsuit that threatens to short-circuit its future. The lawsuit, which centers on the token's $500 million in fees, draws attention to the increasing scrutiny that meme coins and their progenitors are under from regulators. Even as it deals with this lawsuit and its potential fallout, Pump(.)fun claims to bring in a steady revenue stream, suggesting that there still is demand for the meme coin despite the serious troubles it finds itself in.

In a turn of unexpected events, Errol Musk, father of Elon Musk, has stepped into the meme coin arena, announcing plans to raise $200 million for a new token, MUSKIT. How much interest exists in the potential raise can be judged by the seemingly inevitable headline: “Errol Musk Enters Crypto with New Memecoin, MUSKIT.” However, when one digs a little deeper into the make-believe world of meme coins and the impending Doom Hut coming to a virtual reality headset near you, one realizes that MUSKIT probably has a better chance of being a hit than some of the other Musk-related tokens (like DOGE).

As the creator of the Silk Road, Ross Ulbricht is well-known. Unfortunately, he is well-known for losing a significant sum of money in the cryptocurrency space. His loss, though, has implications for the rest of us. Ulbricht's wallets took a $12 million hit—not just because of the usually unavoidable volatility of crypto, but because a new and presumably untested crypto token was mishandled in the price-setting process.

Meme Coin Platform Innovations

In the midst of the chaos, some innovation still seems to be occurring within the meme coin sector. This week sees the debut of Flaunch(.)gg, a new platform that has a somewhat unique model for charging its users. It takes 100% developer fees from the user as per usual in the meme coin space. But it also enforces a 30-minute no-sell rule that's meant to get its users to hold onto the coins for longer instead of just flipping them.

In other developments, ACT, a coin lesser known in the meme world, has shot up 35% recently after striking a partnership with Unicorn Verse, something that experts are calling a positive turn for the token. WIF, on the other hand, has seen a steep decline, down 82% from its all-time high, showing that not every project is thriving in this turbulent market climate.

TARDI Leads SUI Chain, While Base Tokens Show Resilience

The meme coin market has also been in flux this week, with various cross-chain activities and market movements catching the eye. TARDI, a relatively new meme coin, has been leading the SUI chain, up 60%, and standing out as one of the few tokens with substantial growth to report during the downturn.

Meanwhile, Base, a network known for its meme coin activity, has seen some measures of resilience, with tokens like SKI and HENLO managing to hold their ground as the broader market faces headwinds.

A meme coin that once stirred up a substantial amount of excitement, Bitcoin Runes, has taken a sharp downturn in value. This makes the current problems of the meme coin sector even more pronounced. On the other hand, Tron, a long-time secure presence in the crypto market, had very little movement in terms of what meme coins were doing. This indicates that Tron has a much more conservative business strategy in the meme coin sector