Solana revenue slumps 93% from January high after memecoin bubble bursts

Solana network revenue and total value locked onchain have collapsed in the past two months as interest in memecoins has continued to taper off. 

Weekly network revenue on the Solana blockchain hit a record high of $55.3 million in mid-January amid the height of the memecoin minting frenzy. 

However, revenue has since tanked 93% to around $4 million in the past week, back to levels not seen since September, according to DeFillama data. 

Solana weekly decentralized application (DApp) revenue has also slumped around 86% from $238 million in mid-January to $32 million for the past week.  

Meanwhile, DeFi total value locked on Solana has also declined by almost 50% over the same period, falling from a January high of just over $12 billion to current levels of around $6.4 billion. 

Solana weekly revenue and TVL. Source: DeFillama

Memecoin trading, primarily on the Pump.fun platform comprises roughly 80% of the Solana blockchain’s revenues, according to a March 5 report by VanEck. 

Pump.fun daily revenue hit a peak of $15 million in late January but has since slumped by around 95% to $800,000 on March 7, according to data from Dune Analytics. 

Memecoin mania peaked when Donald Trump launched his own namesake token (TRUMP) on Jan. 18, shortly followed by his wife, Melania, who launched MELANIA on Jan. 20.

“The launch of TRUMP and MELANIA marked the top for memecoins as it sucked liquidity and attention out of all the other cryptocurrencies,” said CoinGecko founder Bobby Ong on March 6. 

Both tokens surged following their launches but dumped in the days that followed. TRUMP is currently down 86% from its peak, trading at $10.50, while MELANIA has collapsed 95% in just seven weeks to $0.71.

Memecoin market cap hit a peak of $137 billion in December but has since tanked 68% to $44 billion, according to CoinMarketCap. 

Memecoin market cap meltdown. Source: CoinMarketCap

Solana (SOL $122.95) prices have also taken a battering over the past few weeks, resulting in a 58% fall from their mid-January all-time high of $293. The asset was down a further 5% on the day, trading at $122 at the time of writing.