Solana-based meme coin SLERF surges more than 3,700% as developer burns $10 million presale tokens

Solana-based tokens have dominated the meme coin narrative with nearly double-digit gains in the past week. A recently launched meme coin project called SLERF is making headlines for the “accidental” burn of nearly 50% of the token’s supply. 

The project’s developer said on its X account that he has no means to mint the lost tokens and the meme coin is seeing a rise in accumulation by large-wallet investors in the Solana ecosystem.

Also read: Solana price hits $200 ahead of SBF's sentencing

SLERF developer wipes out 50% of token supply

SLERF’s developer announced on Monday that he accidentally burnt nearly 50% of the token’s supply, losing $10 million in funds belonging to presale participants.

The developer also said there is no way to mint the tokens again since the minting authority has been revoked by the token’s contract. 

In this context, and with a substantially lower supply, data from on-chain intelligence trackers shows that whales have been scooping up SLERF in exchange for Solana. Less supply and high demand from large investors has led to a surge in the meme coin’s price, which is up more than 3,700%, as seen on Birdeye. The token, which started trading on Raydium, Orca and Meteora, has a market capitalization of around $583.54 million at the time of writing.

Lookonchain identified a whale wallet that realized $3.02 million in gains within 12 minutes of purchasing SLERF in exchange for Solana. The investor spent $1.98 million worth of SOL tokens to buy 69.74 million SLERF immediately after trading opened for the meme coin. The whale sold the assets for $5 million in Solana.

SLERF transactions by whale wallet. Source: Solscan and Lookonchain 

HTX exchange is scheduled to open spot trading for SLERF against the USD Tether (USDT) once the deposit volume meets the demands of market trading on Monday, according to an official announcement by the crypto trading platform.